Ice to Meet You

[Nate Phantoms]

Carlac​

​

Standing aboard the Heaven's Bane, his crew mates milled about the bridge in mild excitement. They didn't always go out on expeditions, but when they did it was usually important. Hunting a rather large, force-sensitive creature really wasn't on his 'important' list, but he was bored, and not being bored was important to him.

Being black and gold, his ship stood in stark contrast with his surroundings, as did he. For a short bit anyhow, as his normally black fatigues changed to a more pale grey and white pattern to conceal him. With a hiss, the docking ram shut behind him, the excess snow billowing around his white cloak.

"Hm." Sticking his hand out he let the fluffy snow gather in his palm before letting it fall. "chilly." Walking towards a plume of smoke on the horizon, the whistling of the wind and the crunch of snow underfoot would accompany his thoughts on the light journey. He knew that previously, there were a few galactic gangsters on the snowy planet, but he was decently surprised to see a well rounded mix of species walking about the small village.

Striding into the dimly lit but clean establishment he could only assume was the cantina, he sat in a vacant corner close to the bar, listening to the local conversation.

[member="Kaiya Halycon"]

 

[Huxy]

[member="Nate Phantoms"]

Kark, why did it have to be sooo cold?! Kaiya shuddered in the frigid breezy air of the wintery landscape, her arms hugged tightly around herself. Despite wearing what constituted of a thick coat, she still felt as if she were freezing to the bone. True, it had grown cold on Nar Shadda on occasion, though that was rare. Kaiya was used to the heat, if not just temperate heat but still. She wasn't wearing her armor, so that might've been the reason but still. Scout trooper armor wouldn't have worked anyways. She'd do anything to get out of the frigid winter airs of frost. Then, a cantina struck her eyes as she made her way down the snow-covered street. It looked kind of shabby from the outside, though it looked as though it would suffice for the time being. Kaiya walked into the cantina, the warm air instantly washing over her. She still felt cold however, though the warm air was starting to change that for the time being. Kaiya brushed some white snow off of her red hair as best as she could, though it didn't do much to get rid of the snow.

 

[Nate Phantoms]

Looking up as a gust of wind ruffled his cloak. Despite being unusually serous, he couldn't help but smile at the red head that walked in in a rather large coat. Watching her try to remove all the snow in her hair was amusing, as he had no such problem. Not anymore at least.

It was then that his attuned senses picked up on a conversation behind him. Apparently, a Jakobeast had leveled a few local residences and killed a farmer. There was a hefty sum of credits for the skin of the beast, and he decided he might as well go for it. Turning in his chair, he cleared his throat and let his burning eyes scan the trio of well rounded men.

"You were saying something about needing someone to hunt this beast?" As their was little to no other small talk around them, his deep voice rumbled across more of the establishment than he intended.

[member="Kaiya Halycon"]

 

[Huxy]

[member="Nate Phantoms"]

The word's of the muscular man hit her ears like a pendulum. The man was asking about a hunt, which was exactly the reason Kaiya was here. She had been meaning to let off some steam after her little training session with Xiarr when he had purposely insulted her. She just needed something to vent her anger out on, and what better way to do that then on a hunt for some wild beast. Normally, Kaiya liked animals. Though, that's not how she was seeing things today. She wanted to hurt something, to make something feel pain. Seems this beast was the right opportunity. She wanted to hunt it...though her timidness got to her first. She didn't want to speak up amongst the crowd about hunting something, afraid of what others would say or do...she was basically just overthinking what would happen. Though she did her best to speak up, her voice full of nervousness along with a chill to it from the frigid air outside the cantina.
​"Uh...w-whats think about hunting beast? I could h-help if need be..." Her cheeks took on a soft blush as she spoke, nervous about what the others would say. Gosh, her timidness was absolutely terrible at times. She couldn't have one normal conversation without freaking out.

 

[Nate Phantoms]

Feeling a timid presence draw near, he dismissed it as the waitress, but the words that came with eliminated that notion. Looking up, his eyes landed on the same woman who had came in earlier, when he hadn't had a chance to actually inspect her apparent and pretty features.

"I have no opposition to a partner. Come if you please." Nodding his head to the men, he stood, flipping a credit to the bartender. "Village is bout three klicks out. East that is." Stepping around the smaller frame of the woman, he walked towards the door, but a the rambling of a piss-faced drunk caught his attention. As the beady eyes man pulled the serving girl closer, his drunk friends hooted and hollered. Shaking his head, he sighed. "Excuse me."

Swinging his combat boot clad foot out, he kicked the chair out from underneath the drunk man, not even stopping to look back as he pushed open the door.

[member="Kaiya Halycon"]

 

[Huxy]

Kaiya watched the scene unfold in front of her. A soft blushed took to Kaiya's cheeks once the man looked at her, making her looked towards the ground nervously. She looked back up once the man began speaking again, her blush soon being replaced by shock and surprise as the man kicked the chair out from under the disgusting drunk, making the man hit the ground with a pained groan. Kaiya couldn't help but smirk at the sight before following the tall man, [member="Nate Phantoms"], out of the door. The drunk deserved what he got, though knowing Kaiya she probably wouldn't have done it, due to the amount of people that would stare at her. Her feet picked up the pace as she tried to catch up with the man, trying to find something to say to break the awkward silence. Kaiya hoped she didn't sound like a bumbling idiot as she spoke such simple questions.
​"So...where are we going? Also, how are we going to kill said beast, cause it uses the force, right?"

 

[Nate Phantoms]

Looking back over his shoulder, he felt some amusement stir within his slightly smaller companion. Her questions weren't necessarily dumb, and he was expecting a few. "The village that was mentioned earlier, I'm going to ask around a bit more, as for killing it? I'm either thinking a well placed shot through the skull or.. I don't even know. You have any ideas miss....?" He paused after 'miss' as he never got her full name.

Walking to the ship, he pressed a button beside the boarding ramp, a smaller hatch opening and his land speeder lowering to the ground. Looking back to her he smiled faintly. "You want your own or are you okay with riding with me?"

[member="Kaiya Halycon"]

 

[Huxy]

"Uh..i-it's Kaiya, and you are? As for killing it, if my days living on Nar Shadaa had ever taught me anything, it's go for the eyes...or legs. Though eyes are more effective."
Kaiya followed [member="Nate Phantoms"] to his ship, shivering slightly as she did. She pulled the thick coat closer to her body to try and stay warm, though it was hard. She couldn't even understand how the man in front of her, whatever his name was, how he could stay so warm despite how cold it was. That, or she was just quite susceptible to the cold unlike most other people...which could be the case though all she knew was that she was very cold. She stopped to his side, her gaze falling onto the land speeder. When it first hit her vision, she was clueless as to how to operate it. One didn't really...how do you say it, use vehicles at all when on Nar Shadaa. You mostly ran or did parkour up buildings to escape the police and some rather nasty gang members. Meaning that Kaiya was clueless as how to operate most vehicles.
"Uh, I'll ride with you...I-if that's fine and all."

 

[Nate Phantoms]

"Cold?" Smiling at her, he moved over the speeder and looked up into the hatch from which it had came out from. Calling for one of his crewmen, he manged to get one to bring a thicker jacket for his new friend. No use having her freeze to death.

"Oh, and the name's Nate. Pleasure... to meet you." Holding the coat up to her he nodded. "Should fit nicely." letting her do her own thing for a moment, he sat atop his speeder, letting it roar to life while he tightened his gloves. "Ready when you are." Nearly forgetting, he moved his rifle from around his back and onto his lap, so it wasn't in the way.

[member="Kaiya Halycon"]

 

[Huxy]

Kaiya took the jacket from the crewman thankfully with a little 'thank you' directed toward him. As she slipped on the new jacket and zipped it up, it definitely felt warmer than her previous one. She was still pretty cold, though it was at least bearable now to where she could get used to it instead of suffering needlessly. Kaiya climbed onto the speeder behind [member="Nate Phantoms"]. She was confused at first for where to put her hands and arms so she wouldn't fall off, though she quickly found out. Kaiya looped her arms around Nate's midsection, making sure to hold tight to not fall off for when the speeder was moving. Kaiya hoped that she wouldn't fall off, that would both be embarrassing and painful.
​"Nice to meet you, Nate. Also, I'm ready."

 

[Nate Phantoms]

As she got on managed to wrap her arms around him, he too was still getting ready. Still hooded, he pulled his face mask around the bottom half of his face, and slipped on a pair of dark goggles. Glancing over his shoulder at her he couldn't help but smile. Her timidness was still evident, even as he posed no real threat, other than the fact that he was slightly intimidating

"Hold tight." Leaning forward, he pulled the throttle, the duo speeding off rather quickly, getting a few seconds of air time as they flew over snow dune. Excitement flowed through him like it always did when he was on his speeder. For her? He had no idea.

[member="Kaiya Halycon"]

 

[Huxy]

She was gonna fall off!! At least, Kaiya thought she was about to, it felt like she was about to fall onto the cold snow below...but she didn't. Probably due to her grip around his midsection increasing out of a fear of falling off. She hoped that [member="Nate Phantoms"] wouldn't mind, though she was more preoccupied with trying to not fall off. That, and also trying to look around as the world sped by around them. Kaiya knew that in reality, they were the one's speeding by though she watched anyways, perplexed. Hills seemed to come and go along with isolated houses, all just a blur when moving at incredible speeds on this land speeder. It was a strange yet surreal experience, like when she first entered hyperspace with Xiarr. It felt just like that, only more grounded this time.

 

[Nate Phantoms]

Whipping past threes, hills and some otherwise surprised looking nomads, he was having fun. It felt good to finally be back on his speeder, hi s'sea legs' had played a bigger part in his life as he was always on his ship more than anything nowadays. Everything hitting his senses cleared his mind of the usually negative theroies and assumptions he carried around with him.

A good stretch never hurt anybody. Unless you pulled a muscle of course.

Slowing down marginally, he spoke over his shoulder, just loud enough for her to hear over the sound of the engine. "You hanging in back there?"

[member="Kaiya Halycon"]

 

[Huxy]

"Kind of, I guess. At least it's nice to watch the hills and trees go by, it's peaceful in that way. What about you? I mean, are you hanging in up there? Ugh...that sounds weird, sorry."
Kaiya silently cursed herself after she had made her remark to [member="Nate Phantoms"]. Ugh, why did she have to say and act so awkward? Couldn't she just, I don't know, say something not 'weird.' Sadly she couldn't, it was just apart of who she was. Though she was kind of glad about it, at least it made her different and helped to make her standout against other people. Though Kaiya still wasn't sure if that was good or bad. She hoped that it was good, but actually had no true idea about it. At least, she wasn't going to ask other people about her 'timid' and 'awkward' nature, it just made her uncomfortable taking about herself with others. It had been a miracle she had told Xiarr anything about her...though she was thinking that it had been a mistake now.

 

[Nate Phantoms]

Chuckling he nodded slightly, speeding back up after his brief response. "You're kinda cute, just take a deep breath and relax; I don't bite."

Swerving around a large rock, they came to the top of a rather huge hill, a snowy plain below them, the village near the base. That's... really steep. Clearing his throat, he smiled and put his hands in his lap and turned slightly to speak to her. "Good news and bad news. The village is right down there. Bad news, we're gonna have to jump it."

[member="Kaiya Halycon"]

 

[Huxy]

Kark, did he really just call her cute. Kaiya's cheeks took on a bright red blush at [member="Nate Phantoms"] comment about her. She hoped that he hadn't noticed and that he wouldn't notice, though she wasn't entirely sure about that. Kaiya would be truly embarrassed and shocked if Nate mentioned that he had seen her blush after his comment. Then, he just had to bring up some terrible news. They had to jump for it. Of course they had to, nothing ever seemed to happen without any type of problem in this galaxy. Kaiya wasn't necessarily afraid about the idea...but she was afraid about the idea. It was different jumping from a rooftop on Nar Shaddaa, at least their the roofs were stationary and not moving at high speeds. Though, here of course, they were moving at high speeds. Though, Kaiya knew she had to do it despite how much it irked and frightened her.
​"Uh...j-just great. Ok, uh just tell me when."

 

[Nate Phantoms]

He did notice her blush slightly, sensing some uncomfort in her, but he didn't mention it. They had more important things at hand.

Of course by jump he didn't actually mean jump. More of flying down a hill at really dangerous speeds. Smiling, he looked over his shoulder, the flames in his eyes glowing brighter with amusement. "Please keep all arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, but most of all," Revving the engine, he spoke over the howling winds and the roar of his speeder. "Enjoy the ride." Then, in the blink of an eye, they were off.

[member="Kaiya Halycon"]

 

[Huxy]

Kaiya stayed silent throughout the whole incursion of them speeding down the hill, well for the most part she did. Even through all of her years having lived on Nar Shadaa, this scared her tons more than most other things she had seen or participated in on Nar Shadaa. As they sped down the hill with the icy winds rushing past them, her arms tightened around [member="Nate Phantoms"] midsection so that she wouldn't accidentally fall off. Though, despite being scared at first...she had to admit this was pretty fun. Sure it was dangerous, but everything Kaiya had done in her life was dangerous. Only this time, the danger brought a bit of fun and joy with it. She couldn't help but smile as they sped down the hill in amusement and wonder.

 

[Nate Phantoms]

As they reached the bottom, he began to slow their descent, now riding at a much more comfortable speed. Looking over his shoulder, he chuckled at her, finding her tightened grip amusing.

"You good?" Looking back forward, he scanned to horizon, nothing but white blinding him. "Or should I stop for a bit?"

[member="Kaiya Halycon"]