Brother, Where Art Thou?

[Ibby]

[member="Malachite Avachei"]

Tipau froze, expressionless. Her parents...had visited the colony? "They never told me they'd gone back before," she said blandly.

Her brother's hug did little to comfort her, though she did return it. "Why wouldn't they tell me? And who would come after me? I've done nothing wrong."

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

I just shrugged, still keeping my sister in the hug.

"Oh, they came back. They were afraid, though. Always afraid that what happened would. Probably didn't want you following them."

Shaking my head, I held Tipau at arm's length, and looked into her eyes.

"Eventually, somebody will come after you. This little acolyte we fried was after me. Didn't account for you being around, or for me being faster than him. There are plenty of people, Sith and Jedi, who wanna get their hands on a fire wielder. Even if you're not trained all that much."

[member="Tipau"]

 

[Ibby]

[member="Malachite Avachei"]

"Oh...." was all that she said, when Mal mentioned them being afraid. Really, what else was there to say?

Of course, when he also mentioned that Force Users were out to get them, Tipau gave her brother a sheepish grin. "So...is it bad I'm trying to get in with the Order of the Grey, then?"

She began to chew on a nail, wondering what her newfound brother's reaction would be.

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

I shook my head, smiling at Tipau, and shrugging.

"I've had no influence on you before. I'm okay with not having influence now. The Greys are okay, for an Order. I'm a Phoenix. Teachin' kids how to play with fire. Even taught a famous Sith."

Almost as an afterthought, I pulled her hand away from her mouth.

"Biting your claws will hurt after a while."

[member="Tipau"]

 

[Ibby]

[member="Malachite Avachei"]

Tipau looked down at her hands, sighing. "Yeah. Bad habit I picked up some time along the way." She knew exactly when she'd started it, though: right after she left the colony.

She looked back up at Mal. She was relieved that he didn't care who she ran with, and to show this she picked up the body herself. "C'mon, big brother," Tipau said. "We're almost there."

With a swish of her tail, she began to walk along the catwalk they were on. "I should have brought a bag," the Ruferalahuin mumbled.

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

I shrugged, and absently set to stealing the Sith's boots. They were nice. Genuine leather, probably reinforced with some kind of alchemy. I took them off the dead feet, and retched at the smell of the man's socks.

"Ugh. I better spray these boots before I put them on."


[member="Tipau"]

 

[Ibby]

[member="Malachite Avachei"]

Tipau felt something tug the body. The smell, along with her brother's reaction, answered the question she was about to ask and caused a loud whoop of laughter to escape her lips.

"And that, my brother, is why you wait until you get home to salvage the body." She continued to walk a few more feet, before stopping. Putting down the body, Tipau looked up at a large window, dark and glass-less. She pointed up and looked at her brother. "That's the entrance to my place. If you'll just wait here, I'll drop a rope to tie up our meal." With that, the female Ruferalahuin leapt and scrambled up to the window, pulling herself in. The place was dark, though by virtue of a small flame she managed to find the rope she was looking for.

Extinguishing her light, she grappled the rope before returning to the window. "Ready, Mal?" she called down.

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

I nodded, slinging the boots over my shoulder, and tied the dead man onto the rope. I looked up, and laughed.

"I'll be up in a second."

I leapt straight up, grabbing onto the window sill.

[member="Tipau"]

 

[Ibby]

Holding the rope in one hand, Tipau grabbed her brother's shirt with the other, pulling him through the window. Once he was inside, she began to pull up their meal. While doing that, she asked, "Why'd you laugh? I don't recall saying a joke..."

[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

I looked at my little sister and grinned like a madman.

"Because I enjoy jumping large distances. I wouldn't have taken the rope even if you offered it."

[member="Tipau"]

 

[Ibby]

[member="Malachite Avachei"]

Tipau let out a whoop of laughter. "Well then it's a good thing I wasn't offering it to you, brother!" Finally pulling the corpse in, she threw it on the ground into the middle of the room.

Creating another frame, the Ruferalahuin made her way around the room, lighting a few candles she had nicked. Now with more light, she kneeled down next to the former acolyte and grinned at Mal. "Let's see what other treasures this fella has, shall we?" That said, she began to rifle through the pockets.

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

I put the man's boots to the side, and grinned. The man's lightsaber was an ugly thing, twisted metal that looked almost rusted over with blood.

"Ew. Not taking that. But that knife he's got there is nice. It'll probably shatter if I try to block anything with it, but it's still pretty."

[member="Tipau"]

 

[Ibby]

@[member="Malachite Avachei"]

((Wow. That post is just...top notch, dude xD))

Tipau made a face at the lightsaber. "Yeah, but the crystals could be sold, and the metal for scrap. Lemme see that knife, eh?" She reached over and grabbed the knife, studying it intently. After a few minutes, she handed it back. "Eh, it's alright. Not my taste. You can keep it or sell it."

She rifled around some more, letting out a cry of success. "Ah hah! A cred chip worth one hundred credits! This is so mine!" She hastily shoved it in a pocket of hers. "Any more luck, Mal? Or should we eat?"

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

My face went a bit slack in disbelief... Living by myself must've caused me to be totally different from my sister. I'd been hailed as a hero by a city I'd never even been to, and basically had money thrown at me. All I'd done was kill a couple of criminals, and they called me my parents' rightful heir and whatnot, but here my sister was, selling bits of metal for money.

"Tipau... Why do you live like this? If you'd made it known that Mom and Dad were your parents, you could've been living in a penthouse right now."

((Yes, I'm very proud.))

@[member="Tipau"]

 

[Ibby]

@[member="Malachite Avachei"]

Tipau averted her gaze, ears pressed against her skull. The easiest answer would have been to say that she didn't know her parents were wealthy, but that was only half of it.

"Aside from the fact that I didn't know we could afford a penthouse? Mom and Dad never really talked about the colony -- just you." She puffed out her cheeks, standing up. "I guess money didn't really appeal to me, either. One thing I've noticed is that the more money someone has, the more attention they attract, and, well..." Tipau shrugged. "Mal, we've eaten people. Sentients. I'm not too bothered by that, since it's just how life is. Plus, a lot of them were true monsters. But not everyone is willing to see it like that, so for the sake of my own social life I try to avoid the limelight. And that includes having lots of money...and a penthouse."

The Ruferalahuin looked at her brother, a wry smile on her face. "Besides, I'm a wanderer. Living hand-to-mouth is really the only way I can, well, live. If I become too bogged down by personal items, it feels like I can't move."

She nudged the body with her toe. "Supper's getting cold."

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

I sighed, and looked around, idly roasting some more of the corpse lying on the floor between us. The argument that we should isolate ourselves was one I always trying to keep myself from agreeing with.

"Even if we kill, at least we can stave off our hunger longer than an Anazati or a Colicoid or something. The people in that town I lived in on Crystalsong mistook me feeding off a murderer for some kind of heroic action, and they gave me money, and a house, and I bought everything I wanted. Eventually, I was a curiosity to be maybe looked at, and I sunk back into the shadows. I could do what I wanted, really, and nobody would care."

[member="Tipau"]

 

[Ibby]

[member="Malachite Avachei"]

Tipau let out a stifled snort of disbelief. "People actually praised you for feeding? Now that is cool. Usually the ones I meet when I need to feast try to whack me upside the head or impale me. Not fun, brother. Though, it was amusing when one group tried to set me on fire."

She fell silent for a moment, assisting Mal with the roasting. Eventually, she said, "Well, enough about me. What've you been up to, aside from having money thrown at your feet?" The last remark was meant as a jest, and she threw in a mischievous smile. "Do I have any nieces or nephews?"

 

[Raven Hayashi]

"No but you do have a sister" Raven said, sitting on the window seal. Her left leg was hanging out of the window and she was looking at the duo with a smug look on her face. Looking at the dead sith she sighed "You really had to burn him alive didn't you? on top of that I'm probably going to get blamed!" She didn't move from the window seal, she just sat there head turned to her siblings. She had been with Mal most of the day.

[member="Tipau"]
[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

Looking over at Raven, I grinned like an idiot. So she had followed me. Ah, well.

"Of course we had to burn him alive. Not like 'hey, we're gonna eat you' is any way to get somebody to come quietly."

Gesturing to Tipau, I pulled my adopted sister the rest of the way through the window.

"So, that is Tipau. I didn't know about her until today. Tipau, this is Raven... Met her when I was burning people up on Crystalsong."

[member="Tipau"] [member="Raven Avachei"]

 

[Ibby]

[member="Malachite Avachei"] [member="Raven Avachei"]

"A sister!" Tipau screeched. Her face broke out into a huge grin and she leapt forward to wrap Raven in a hug. This was amazing! Not only did she have a brother, but a sister, too!

A thought, though, dissolved some of her happiness. With a slightly bemused expression, she asked, "Why didn't Mom and Dad talk about you, though? They talked about Mal all of the time, and you'd have to be my older sister. Unless either Dad was doing infidelity or Mom managed to hide her pregnancy -- the last which wouldn't make sense, anyway." While the last bit was said in a joking manner, it still bore a bit of worry in it. Mom and Dad wouldn't have done that, right?