Horns, Montrals, and the difference between them. (Aalzorin)

[Jasper Felinus]

Sitting in the cockpit of the Horned Queen, delving into some of the junkier provisions and the stronger booze. Reflecting on my life, and how drunk and hungry I was for most of it. Entering the long, dark, teatime of the soul, as I'd read somewhere. Also, there was a bit of a fog around my senses from all the Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters I'd been drinking.

My reflective fog was rudely cut to shreds as the intruder alarm went off. Why had it taken this long to go off? I took off from that planet almost three hours ago. The scanner said that the mysterious intruder had been hiding in the cargo bay.

I strode towards the cargo bay, grimacing slightly before opening the door and gracefully tripping over a box and falling on my face. In front of me was the most beautiful Togruta I'd ever seen... And she had a sharp object pointed at my face.

Damn.

[member='Aalzorin']

 

[Aalzorin]

[member="Jinxer Ticon"]

Mantessa was a jungle planet, filled with nothing but game and a stray outpost here and there. The largest installation was one not seen on any galactic records. The village of primitive Togruta shamans that lived their private existence carrying their tradition across many generations settled on Mantessa.

Banished to the far side of the jungle planet where no Togruta had ever gone except to die, the dark shaman Aalzorin had found a small docking outpost using her navigation skills. There she discovered an unoccupied freighter with its cargo ramp conveniently down. She ducked into the cargo hold and behind a crate full of future stuff that the shaman had never seen before.

Then a noise frightened her, the sound of the ship taking off. Her heart began to pound within her chest and she immediately grabbed onto the nearest wall. As the ship left atmosphere and stabled itself for the jump to hyperspace she dropped onto her back. She fell asleep, for she had not stopped moving since she camped out last night.

Then, another noise woke her with a start. She grabbed her glaive and held it in her fists, as the ship's pilot flipped over a crate as he ran to investigate. It wouldn't be wise to sacrifice the chance for the upper hand and so she pointed the six-and-a-half foot weapon towards the horned alien's marked face. Aalzorin had never seen a being such as he before, but she knew he was not to be trusted.

"I'm going to give you ten words, maximum, before I start slashing. Use them wisely," she said, in a Galactic Basic touched with a strange accent.

 

[Jasper Felinus]

Ten words, huh? A beautiful, dangerous woman tells me I have ten words to explain myself. What do I do? I act like a jackass.

"Sorry to say this, but your ride's over if ya stab me, beautiful."

More than ten words? Yes. Did they serve as sufficient distraction to pull the knife out of the sheathe in my collar? Another yes.

[member="Aalzorin"]

 

[Aalzorin]

[member="Jinxer Ticon"]

The alien man went over his word limit by two, but that didn't particularly matter. What did matter was that this interaction could go nowhere very quickly. But Aalzorin wanted it to go nowhere in her direction.

She flipped the polearm so that the cutting edge of the blade was less than a centimeter from the horned man's chin. "You'd still be dead," she replied.

Then she continued, a smile cracked across her face from cheek to cheek. "I'm not keen to mess up that handsome face, so I'll give you another chance. Turn around, go back to where you were before, and forget that I'm here. When we get to where we're going, I get out and never see you again. Otherwise, this is going to have to get bloody."

 

[Jasper Felinus]

I smiled back, shrugging.

"But why leave you in the cargo bay, when you'd be so much more comfortable up front? Even if you're not hungry, there's still alcohol."

Rolling off my back, and pushing myself up, I winked at the Togruta woman.

"And how could I forget such a lovely lady? Or her ridiculously sharp weapon?"

[member="Aalzorin"]

 

[Aalzorin]

[member="Jinxer Ticon"]

Aalzorin rolled her eyes and pushed her way past the alien, smirking as she exited the cargo hold and walked towards the front of the ship. She slid the weapon into its holder on her back as she sauntered away with a smirk on her face. "Keep it in your dreams, lover boy."

 

[Jasper Felinus]

I looked at the woman innocently, holding my arms out.

"Keep what in my dreams? I'm an innocent spacer... who's drunk, and sleep deprived, and smuggles stuff to places it's not supposed to be. Totally innocent."

I winked at the woman, and opened the door to the cockpit, jokingly bowing and gesturing to the chairs and the food near them.

"Dinner is served... or something."

[member="Aalzorin"]

 

[Aalzorin]

"A true gentleman, I'm sure," Aalzorin joked as she plopped down on one of the chairs in the cockpit and eyed the 'food' with a scowl. The alien garbage looked like it was made from curdled milk and animal guts, at least through the tribal eyeballs looking at it. What she wouldn't give to go hunting right now.

 

[Jasper Felinus]

I shrugged at the apparent disgust on the woman's face. To each his own, I guess. She was probably used to eating freshly killed stuff. The most freshly killed thing I had was a barbecued bantha steak. And even that had only just been reheated for my dinner. I pointed at it, and smirked.

"That's the closest thing I've got to fresh meat. Sorry if it doesn't appeal to your tastes, beautiful."

With that, I sat down and cracked open another bottle of beer. The good kind. I glanced at the woman, as I began drinking. Acting as if I didn't care either way if she sat down with me, or not.

[member="Aalzorin"]

 

[Aalzorin]

Having sat down on the chair opposite the alien, Aalzorin drew a knife from her side. She stabbed a large chunk of bantha steak with it, and pulled it up to her mouth and tore pieces of it off with her carnivorous teeth. She cared little for the meat, but it was there, and little else was available.

 

[Jasper Felinus]

I grinned at the woman, and started on my own food. It didn't taste all that great, now that I tasted it. I shredded a piece of meat in my teeth, and then put the rest of the plate down. I pulled out a bar of chocolate, and began chewing on that instead. At least it was sweet.

"So, did you choose to climb aboard my ship for a specific reason or destination, or did 'anywhere but here' appeal to you?"


[member="Aalzorin"]

 

[Aalzorin]

She pondered the question for a short time before answering. "Kabhour-Haai had little left for me, so I decided I'd leave. After all, the tribe's elders were only holding me back."

 

[Jasper Felinus]

I leaned back in my chair, and closed my eyes for a moment.

"So, that planet was Kabhour-Haai? I was trading with some of your elders for, um, exotic conveniences. Those elders handle blasters a bit too well for my liking."

I shook my head and continued on my candy bar.

"Did anybody in your village know where the elders were from?"

[member="Aalzorin"]

 

[Aalzorin]

"Uh-huh," she said.

"You probably call it something different," she continued. "Kabhour-Haai is the name of the village, but also the nature the village is connected with, leading to the belief that those who are exiled from Kabhour-Haai are denied its prey. A myth, but a popular one"

"The recordsmaster spoke of an ancient home among the stars. There our people were much more numerous and we had unimaginable technology so we never had to hunt. Guided by a mysterious benefactor we left and never returned. That was many generations ago."

 

[Jasper Felinus]

I smiled, and almost laughed.

"I'd bet money that at least one of those elders lived on Shili. Probably got exiled for some big crime, and crashed on this planet you lived on. Those 'ancestors' of yours either didn't exist, or were exiles themselves. Basically, your elders are probably perfectly capable of using technology. No offense, but tribal groups are pretty easy to take advantage of."

I sighed, and shook my head.

"I have a bad feeling I just dug your village in deeper with that crate of weapons I just sold them. Of course, you're probably not interested in going back and warning them, right?"

[member="Aalzorin"]

 

[Aalzorin]

"Maybe you're right," she said. After all, it was no longer her concern what went on in the settlement.

"No," she continued. "If I go back, there won't be a village left. For all I care, they can kill each other all they want."

 

[Jasper Felinus]

Now I did laugh, and gulped down the rest of my candy bar.

"That's my attitude towards the whole galaxy, and it helps that I'm drunk about half the time."

Then I shrugged, and turned back to my forgotten drink.

"We can hit Sephi, if you like. Millions of Togrutas in one place, all with modern technology. Might be interesting to see your reaction."

[member="Aalzorin"]

 

[Aalzorin]

[member="Jinxer Ticon"]

She stopped chewing on her bantha steak long enough to think over the question. "If you say so, then sure," she answered. "After all, this is your giant steel deathtrap, not mine."

 

[Jasper Felinus]

I knocked back the rest of my Gargle Blaster, and grinned wildly.

"Well, then, let's get this fine deathtrap going!"

I hit the switch that would send us into hyperdrive, and then spun in my chair.

"But, seriously, there's not anywhere you actually want to go?"

[member="Aalzorin"]

 

[Aalzorin]

"I'm not as familiar with the stars as you," she explained, dropping the remainder of the steak back down on the plate it came from. "I'm not the strange space-man with horns and... hair on his head. I couldn't know where to go if you handed me a labeled map."

[member="Jinxer Ticon"]