Another Fowl mess I've gotten myself into (Skylar)

[Jan VonFowl]

So, I'm flying again. My lovely speeder alternately purring like a kitten, or roaring like a wildcat as I make tight turns around the spires and cartel spice factories that littered the skies of Nar Shaddaa. As a whole, the place offered me not much, other than a bunch of pretty buildings to fly around. I don't like Hutts, I despise spicerunners and the others who take advantage of the trade, and I hate seeing people spiced and in that kind of dull daze they have.

Now, that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy that little arial fight I just had, but I was mad about my speeder being dropped from the sky for the second time in eight months. At least that time on Coruscant, I'd known where I was going well enough. But here, the multitude of gangs and other criminals made it impossible to tell what sectors were safe.

As I flew into the Nikto quarter, I sensed rather than saw the airspeeders that were coming to lighten my load... permanently. I shot downwards, letting the throttle open all the way. I flew into a tunnel at one of the bottom levels, and came out with burns marring the blue flames of my speeder's paint job. To my disappointment, I'd been recognized as a threat to be shot down. Blasterfire found its way into the engine, and it started smoking. Damn. Flying through a tunnel, into the interior of one of the many mini-cities that firmed sectors here, my beautiful machine came to rest on top of what might have been a public comm booth if I hadn't smashed it.

[member='Skylar Ichor']

 

[Skylar Ichor]

Skylar was walking down the street when she saw the speeder flying at her. She jumped out of the just in time before it separated the top half of her body from her legs. Skylar saw the speeder get shot and crash into the comm booth, the rider looking around as if they had died and went to Hades.

Really ticked off, she pulled her knife, and walked straight over to him to give a piece of her mind. Skylar pinned the knife at his neck and yelled in his face, "Listen buster, just because you're running from the law doesn't mean you have to almost freaking kill someone doing it and smash other people's stuff!" Her gray eyes were full of rage, and her black hoodie whipped around her gold tank top as she brought the melee weapon up to his face.

[member="Jan VonFowl"]

 

[Jan VonFowl]

I hopped out of the smoking wreck that was the comm booth, holding the girl's knife away from my face. I just needed her to not stab me long enough to shoot down the idiots chasing me. Grabbing my carbine, and pulling her close by the wrist she was trying to stab me with, I bulls-eyed one speeder, sending the Nikto pilot spinning off to crash into a building.

"You can stab me as much as you like in about thirty seconds, blondie."

The next craft was a security type, probably commandeered from some Hutt's fleet somewhere. I tried to shoot it, and yelped in pain as the carbine overheated in my hand, and I threw it in the general direction of the speeder, sighing as it bounced off harmlessly. I drew my rotary pistol, and grimaced. What the hell was I gonna do with this little thing?

[member="Skylar Ichor"]

 

[Skylar Ichor]

Skylar looked up in terror at the cops, knowing if she was caught with him and recognized... Well let's just say she might as well die in the spice mines for mass thieving. "Im not blond and you'll be bleeding by the time the cops catch you, and I'll be gone for good." Skylar wrenched her hand from the man's grip, stabbed him in the calf, and took off running to the nearest alley way, leaving him to his fate.

[member="Jan VonFowl"]

 

[Jan VonFowl]

Possibly sadly for the girl, but happily for me, I followed her into the alleyway, rolling to avoid the blasterfire peppering the street around me. Getting back up was a problem, though, with a knife the size of my forearm stuck in my leg. Glaring after the girl, I pulled out a roll of medseals, and crawled to the nearest door, opening the lock with a blast from my gun. I started muttering to myself, trying to ignore the pain from the knife I was pulling out of my leg. Finally, with a yelp, I managed to slide it free and throw it aside.

"Damn it... Why is it always the pretty ones who've gotta try and stab me? I swear, I didn't wake up in the morning and say, 'hey, I'll just get chased down by fucking Nikto gang members dolled up like cops' and of course I don't smash things on purpose... Don't even appreciate that I saved her from getting slagged, nope. Shanked me like a dying animal."

I vaguely hoped that the medseal I was wrapping around my calf would do its job, and dull the pain... There was a lot of running to come, and I needed to get going.

[member="Skylar Ichor"]

 

[Skylar Ichor]

Skylar dodged and weaved through the alley ways, like a smart mouse in a maze, and her home was her cheese. She didn't usually at like that, but when she was in danger, her animal fight or flight reactions tended to come before thought. She sent back around through a few different alley ways before coming back to the one where the man had pulled out her knife. Skylar stopped and picked it up, wiping off the blood with a cloth rag before putting it back in its sheath. After all, it was the only thing she had to remind her of the gang that raised her, and protect herself with. She ran again the way she had first run, only this time, her post led her back to the white and crumbling abandoned apartment she called home.

Skylar didn't stop running until she was in her room, third level, 1st room on the right, gulping water and some nutrient bars.

[member="Jan VonFowl"]

 

[Jan VonFowl]

I didn't really know why I followed the girl here. Maybe because it seemed like she had a good instinct of where to hide, or maybe it was just because she was cute, and my idiotic 'follow the swishy hair' instinct had sent sparks up. Or maybe it was the Force. Despite all my dad's criminal dealings and pragmatic views, he'd still somehow believed that the Force was guiding him. He'd died believing that. I imagined it was good having something to believe, but nothing ever really gets me praying or meditating or anything. The Force is the the Force, and it allows me to make things float and use a lightsaber. That's it. What else did a daredevil criminal pilot need to know?

Not knowing, or really caring, where the girl went after I got into the building, I just sat down on the stairs leading up the the third floor. Why three, you might ask? Because three had been my lucky number a while, and because it was the only spot so far where I had a full view of all the steps leading up to it. I drew my rotary gun again, and waited... and waited... and waited...

Until I fell asleep, leaning against the wall, with my leg finally bleeding out onto the medseal again.

[member="Skylar Ichor"]

 

[Skylar Ichor]

Skylar heard movement on the stairs then nothing, she came out of her room and cautiously creeped down the stairs, in case of an ambush. She saw the man she had stabbed passed out and bleeding on the steps. Just looking at him, she knew he would die if she didn't stop the bleeding, so she ran back up the stairs and ripped a curtain from its holder, ripping into strips and grabbing two water bottles from the working fridge.

Skylar ran back down the stairs to the man and took off his old bandage, which was soaked in his blood, and wrapped it up in the first strip of curtain. Next she poured half of the first water bottle onto the wound, cleaning the wound, so that she could see the damage she did. Skylar grimaced at her own handiwork, but got back to work dousing another strip with a fourth of the water bottle, then tied the last, dry strip just above the wound so that the bleeding would stop. Using the damp strip, she cleaned his leg of the rest of the blood and wrapped it around the wound to catch anymore blood. Skylar then got to work hauling the unconcious body up the stair and into her bedroomso that he could rest, and left the second water bottle on the nightstand.

After all of that, she left the room and washed the blood off her hands in the kitchen sink.

[member="Jan VonFowl"]

 

[Jan VonFowl]

I woke up with a start, and felt around for my gun and my lightsaber, before realizing that I wasn't in a prison somewhere. Not even a cage, like those Kintan Nikto liked to put their hostages and future slaves in. It was a cute, if smallish, bedroom. I winced as I thought of the barely suppressed shout I'd been about to let out, and promptly yelped and sat down hard back on the bed when I tried to stand up. I was happy to see that my lightsaber and my blaster were on the table next to the bed, but I was a bit chagrined that I couldn't get up.

I wondered, with a bit of interest, whose apartment this was. It looked vaguely feminine, but gave no clue as to who actually lived here. A lot of people on Nar Shaddaa would've left me bleeding on the staircase. I'd followed the girl into that building, but she'd stabbed me herself.

So, who'd cleaned my leg up?

[member="Skylar Ichor"]

 

[Skylar Ichor]

Skylar rushed in at the yelp and saw the man trying to get up, which she told fiercely, "Get back down and rest more, or that wound'll start to bleed again." She didn't really care if the man recognized her, she hadn't been in her right mind when she stabbed him, and she was going to make up for it by making sure it mostly healed up.

[member="Jan VonFowl"]

 

[Jan VonFowl]

I totally ignored the girl's order, to stare at her with surprise. So, she'd stabbed me, run away like hell itself was after her, and was playing nursemaid, now? Was this her way of saying sorry? Good thing she had, though... bleeding like that could've spelled the end for me, and I didn't really feel like dying. Finally conceding a little bit by sliding back to lean against the wall, I still looked quizzically at the girl. My mind tracked back to what she'd said before, when I'd crashed my speeder into that comm booth.

"Those weren't cops, at all. Just stolen Cartel rides."

[member="Skylar Ichor"]

 

[Skylar Ichor]

Skylar stared confused, she'd stabbed him because she'd thought they had been cops. "I'm sorry about that," she motioned to the leg, "My fight-or-flight usually overrides my logic when I see cops, even fake ones." Her face was blank, but her eyes always gave away her true emotions, she was concerned, and frightened that these 'cops' might've followed them, "Who were those guys?" She sat on the stool that she sat on when she sharpened her knife.

[member="Jan VonFowl"]

 

[Jan VonFowl]

I shook my head, shrugging against the wall. There was no real reason why a Nikto swoop gang would chase me on Nar Shaddaa. I hadn't done anything much to annoy them, other than go flying by. Anyway, I waved off the girl's apology. I'd been in worse situations, and I probably would've been able to figure it out myself soon enough, if she hadn't saved me by her own methods.

"It's no problem. Been the most fun I've had in a while. I don't get stabbed by pretty, unnamed, girls on Corellia. And I certainly don't get chased by cops. Most of 'em are easy to buy off."

With a smirk, I thought about who might've been shooting at me... They could've been anybody, but for the method of their transportation, and the fact that all my pursuers had been Nikto.

"Anyway, I'd say those were probably members of the Kintan Kings. Big Nikto gang that flies around the upper levels, beating up on a lot of the Cartel troops that come this side of the planet."

[member="Skylar Ichor"]

 

[Skylar Ichor]

The ghost of a smile touched Skylar's face when he called her pretty, but it disappeared when he said it was a dangerous gang gang. She had been raised by a way smaller, less known gangs, and had been kicked from it four years ago for years she didn't like talking about. Let's just say she didn't want to run into anyone from that gang anytime soon.

She bit her lip, "You can hide here until they get tired of searching for you. Why do you think they were chasing you?"

[member="Jan VonFowl"]

 

[Jan VonFowl]

I harbored no illusions as to why the Nikto had been chasing me. In the first place, they might've wanted my speeder. A custom job like that would have made the Kings a terror to the other street gangs around here. Besides that, I was violating their airspace. Even if it was just pleasure-flying, the Nikto gang wasn't awfully friendly about their territory.

"They either wanted my speeder, or they wanted my head. Either way, that meant shooting me down, and possibly killing me when I came out. I've been flying around the planet for the better part of two days, just for fun. My luck that I strayed into the wrong place at the wrong time."

I gave the girl a sheepish grin, and sighed.

"Which reminds me, I'm sorry I almost ran you over. Totally deserved that knife in the leg."

[member="Skylar Ichor"]

 

[Skylar Ichor]

She laughed bitterly, "It seems that everyone's been having strange luck lately, and don't worry about my head, I've seen worse. I overreacted, that's all." Skylar could see why a speeder gang would want something like his speeder.

She looked outside and noticed the sun getting low, "I don't think I can repay you for the speeder, but I can at least give you shelter until tomorrow morning, or until you can figure out a safe way off this rock."

[member="Jan VonFowl"]

 

[Jan VonFowl]

I looked outside, and grimaced as I noticed the sun coming down. I must've slept for hours... But one thought was bothering me: The thought that my speeder would be sitting in a wrecked comm booth for a whole night.

"If you don't mind helping me there, I can keep my speeder from getting stripped down at least. Maybe I can even fix it, and we can fly it back here."

With a jaunty grin, I slid forward again, and tried to stand up. I managed to for a whole minute before sitting back down again. That was good enough. Leaning on the bed, I kept myself standing, and called my lightsaber and my gun through the Force, hooking them to my belt.

"Well, time to check out what I did to my ride."

[member="Skylar Ichor"]

 

[Skylar Ichor]

Skylar helped the man stand up, "Yea that's a good idea. We can stash it in one of the lower rooms, if it'll fit through the door, if you like, sir." They carefully walked down the stairs, the man leaning on Skylar for support, and a hood concealing his features from a usual passerby's glance, and walked down the alleyways they had come. "Shouldn't be far now." Skylar muttered under her breath.

[member="Jan VonFowl"]

 

[Jan VonFowl]

"Call me Jan, would ya? Every other pretty girl that's tried to stab me calls me that."

I grinned at her, my eyes sweeping the area in front of us for attackers. Finally, we got to the spot where I'd crashed the speeder. The arm that was around the girl so she could help me walk squeezed her a bit.

"My bird can still fly, I think. Just gotta back it out of the comm booth."

[member="Skylar Ichor"]

 

[Skylar Ichor]

Skylar rolled her eyes at the young man.

"Okay, Jan. I'm assuming you'll need help."

She ignored when Jan squeezed her arm. She knew he would need help, but had decided to let him decide.

[member="Jan VonFowl"]