Kitty in the City

[Arro Peradun]

The Crown​

Golbah City​

Geonosis​

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]​

​

Being away from home was eye-opening.

His great-aunt had told him so much over the years, about family his parents and other relatives never spoke of, about the rich cultures that laid beyond the atmosphere of Felacat, and he was too enamored with what she had to say to stop sneaking away to see her even when it was forbidden by his father when he was a younger cub. He knew about the Confederacy to an extent, in that they were the government protecting his homeworld, in that they had freed it from occupation. He had been there in the thick of the rebellion, using his strength and natural prowess along fellow soldiers and other friendlies from the outside to beat back the subjugators.

And now, months later, he was here in Golbah City, the capital, his great-aunt and siblings having been the only ones to see him off, his own parents shunning him in their anger at the depth of his reasons for leaving. It was his second day exploring this massive statement of defiance against the parched elements, having spent the first day in marked fascination with the sheer variance of species and peoples that came and went, worked and lived in the the Hub, where he too had taken a room for the duration of his visit before he would hop another transport to... elsewhere. He wasn't sure where that was yet, but he was making it up as he went along. He was certain he'd know by the time he decided to leave, but he wasn't sure when that would be, either. This day, he opted to stroll through the Crown, which appeared more streamlined, more peaceful, compared to the sector that never slept. If only this planet had more green.

As he took in the government buildings and embassies, comparing the differences between here and the governing seat of Felacat, a separate stream of thought, one that was often in the back of his mind until now, chewed on how he would go about getting something done about this power he seemed to possess that made him hit harder and withstand more than even the average Felacatian of his build could. Also, in the same mental breath, was curiosity about the warrior culture his great-aunt had spoken of when putting a sigh to the story of a man of Manda'yaim who had given her a daughter many years prior, and she eventually left Felacat much like one of his uncles had. Family was complex, to say the least. His life was more complex.

So was the Citadel. Not that the structure was complex, but what little he knew about overseeing just one world multiplied to mind-boggling proportions when applied to the whole of the Confederacy meant what went on within that particular building was no simple thing at all. Also, he had been told they essentially didn't have just one ruler. How was that managed? These too were questions that roiled in his brain when, upon spotting a tour being offered of the Citadel, he made his way over in earnest at a leisurely pace. His enthusiasm would usually have him jog, but any form of increased speed when the other being is smaller and you're big enough to crack duracrete when dropped... well. Considerations are made.

"Hello," he said, the accented rumble of his voice dropping in front of the tour guide, "is therrre still rrroom on the next tourrr?"

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

The Crown sector was usually a peaceful place. Rich people bought stuff there, the Viceroy pretended they didn't think they were better than everybody else there, yada yada yada. Most people found the scenery quite breath taking too. If there was any part of Golbah City that screamed credits, this was definitely it. Which was probably part of why Scherezade didn't actually like it. Princess or not, her very short life had ensured that her exposure to the finer aspects of royalty were entirely strange to her.

Her very short life had also taught her how to be incredibly efficient at her job, which was why she was chasing down the avenue on her Darling, chasing a drone that against all odds, was flying horizontally instead of vertically. It had been a long chase under the unforgiving Geonosis sun, but the smile on her face pretty much said it all; she was having the time of her life. Dangerously maneuvering her speeder to just avoid running pedestrians over, but in most likelihood getting much closer to them than she could otherwise have been.

The avenue led all the way right up to the Citadel itself, and Scherezade was so hyper focused on the drone that she had not realized on time just how close she was to its entrance. And since she didn't realize it, she had no qualms out right jumping forward from her speeder, her calloused hands reaching through the air, almost there, almost there, I think I got it, I think I got it, I think I got it-

BAM!

The drone was in her hands. Scherezade landed in the most clumsy of ways onto the ground, a few feet above the stairs that led to the Citadel, taking a tumble and a roll, screaming all the while as limbs mixed with drone parts, and only came to a stop in front of the group of… Tourists. Right. Because naturally, she'd successfully get the drone, but embarrass herself in the process.

Not to mention that the drone was totally broken now too because of the tumble. Krak.

"Don't mind me," she said sweetly as she got up, hoping the cuts and bruises on her bodies that had also torn through the civilian clothes she was wearing that day weren't showing up. "Just another friendly tourist on this unfriendly planet. With a broken drone."

Hmm. To try to get the drone fixed, or to directly take it to the lab instead. So many options. Scherezade stared at it. Then stared at the group, who was watching her. She stared at the broken drone again. She was still not on a horse.

Giving them all a smile that only an innocent child could, she inched her way to join the group. "I totally paid up front. I'm with you guys."

Hand-wavium!

[member="Arro Peradun"]

 

[Arro Peradun]

He'd heard her before he saw her, saw her when everyone else heard her and saw her, and hesitated to intervene. Tackling a human could end up very different from tackling another Felacatian... at least, she looked human. Sometimes there was no being certain in this galaxy, even in this corner of it. Not that he knew anything much outside of this corner, outside of Felacat. When she got up under her own steam, his hesitance was justified, but her words threw him for a small loop.

Unfriendly? He hadn't found that to be the case... but when she wedged her way into the group, claiming to have paid up front, he gave her space in front of him. His head believed her, but his nose twitched, and her personal scent merged into the fray of the people around them. He could almost make a game of picking groups apart by scent, if he wanted. There was a lot of waiting at times, as a soldier, and you learned to keep your brain occupied.

"Do you..." came the accented basic, light on the felinoid rumble, "...make a habit of doing that?"

He hadn't specified what he meant, but surely it was obvious?

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]​

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

As she walked to the groups, she was all flashy smiles and childish grins. Which, considering the armor she wore the amount of unconcealed weapons she carried, seemed to clash. Harshly. But if the woman herself minded, she made no show of it. Because what was the point? She was supposed to blend in now, or something like that. For a moment, she held the drone to her eye level, peering into the depths of its lack of a soul, wondering if there was anyone on the other side that might be looking back at her from the depths of the abyss.

Someone asked her a question – the same someone who had given her a place in the line, to stand in front of him.

But then Scherezade paused, eyes narrowing for a moment. She knew the scent of his species. She had spent days with them, pretending to be a maid while she waited for the Trandoshan attack on the royal palace to hit a point where she could massacre them all. It had almost ended in a diplomatic clusterkrak because she'd ended up knocking the entire royal family unconscious and hiding them in the basement so that she could pew pew at peace, but still…

"Dude, it's been a forever since I met a Fellakittie," she almost bounced, and gave him a genuine smile. Moving the drone to one arm, she held the other out to him, "Hi! You're going to have to be more specific. What are or aren't I making a habit out of?"

[member="Arro Peradun"]