More Than Your Average Stranger (Kerrick, Skye)

[Yuuthayn Di'cantos]

I'd never been to Fondor before. Not much I hadn't seen before, though. Big cities, lots of clubs, and even more people. Millions of faces to blend in with, and tons of fun. For once I didn't have a job to do. I walked with confidence through the streets, wearing the face of an especially attractive male Zeltron. Tall, lean, and a killer smile. It was hilarious to watch the looks I got when I entered one of the nightclubs. I sat down at the bar, turning around just to watch the crowds as they poured in.
[member="Kerrick Sereta"]
[member="Skye Reviar"]

 

[Kerrick Sereta]

​

Crowds were not something Kerrick enjoyed by any means, and their demeanor as they pushed through the throngs of people with [member="Skye Reviar"] not far behind was evident of that. Too many people presented far too many variables for their liking, as they'd had less than pleasant experiences in similar seemingly harmless scenarios. And they weren't the type of person to make the same mistake twice, let alone on a planet they hadn't set foot on once in their life. There was a time for everything, as the saying went, but for them 'everything' didn't include something going wrong that could eventually be prevented.

Finally managing to navigate to a break in the press of bodies they pulled open the doors of one of the many clubs that lined the streets, ushering their companion inside before they let the doors swing shut behind the pair. "Try not to go too far, yeah?" Though the two hadn't been traveling together for any exponential amount of time, there was still a sort of protectiveness that they felt towards the young girl, something that they couldn't quite explain if asked about it.

They took a seat at the bar themselves, a few seats down from a Zeltron man. This was a time to relax more than anything, and allow time to pass by unchallenged with no consequences.

[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"]

 

[Auralee]

Holy HELL, was Skye nervous. This place was HUGE!! Sure, Nar Shaddaa was big, too, but at least there she knew how to get to places. Fondor was totally different! She did her best to keep Kerrick in her sight. Luckily, Skye never had a problem with keeping up. She ducked inside the club as the door closed. "Like Hell! There's no fething way I'm wandering off in a place this big..." She replied. She followed Kerrick to the bar and sat down beside her. "Frak. Is it just me, or are we kind of lost already?"
[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"]
[member="Kerrick Sereta"]

 

[Yuuthayn Di'cantos]

I downed the shot I'd ordered and eyed the two that sat down a few seats from me. One was a girl who looked quite nervous and fairly young. The other looked like a man, but the eyes suggested a woman. Interesting. I glanced at them for little longer before turning my attention back to the door. Tapping my fingers on the bar counter to the rhythm of the music, I only half-noticed when a man and a woman sat down on either side of me. What little Force training I had told me that something was off about them. They both stared at me until the woman spoke. "That's a lovely face you've got there. A pity it's not your real one." Feth.
[member="Kerrick Sereta"]
[member="Skye Reviar"]

 

[Kerrick Sereta]

The bit of a commentary from Skye only caused them to shake their head in amusement. With the profession of a smuggler, in their book, this was a relatively tame situation, all things considered. No one had been shot yet, and everyone in the surrounding area seemed calm and nonchalant. That was good enough, so far. "Being lost would imply that we don't know where we are or where we're going. Right now we're on Fondor in a club, so we have the first part down. The second's up in the air until one of us gets a job or we figure out what planet we want to head to next. I wouldn't call it lost." Here they shrugged. "Just...pleasantly distracted." That was one way to put it.

Just down the bar was the Zeltron they'd first spotted when they entered, and it seemed that some kind of confrontation was in the works. Instead of reacting right away, one hand simply dropped almost casually to the blaster at their hip. If something went spectacularly awry the weapon would be drawn and aimed at the offending parties before either of them could get a word of dissent out. For the moment, though the three of them could continue in whatever little game it was they were playing. Just as long as neither they nor Skye were hurt in the process, nothing else really mattered to Kerrick.

Keeping their voice low, they nodded their head in the direction of the Zeltron man while speaking under their breath to Skye, "Keep an eye out for those three. I don't quite like the air our new friends carry. The Zeltron's fine, but the other two are...off."

[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"], [member="Skye Reviar"]

 

[Auralee]

Skye waved off the bartender as Kerrick spoke. "Maybe I'll find it a bit more pleasant when I start liking liquor." She smirked. She then noticed Kerrick getting a bit jumpy. Her hand was down at her blaster, and her next words were further confirmation. Skye nodded. "If things get bad, I'll find some cover," She replied in a lower tone. It wouldn't be hard to watch the Zeltron. His skin was a vibrant pinkish-red that refused to let her look elsewhere. Rich colors tended to have that effect on her.
[member="Kerrick Sereta"]
[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"]

 

[Yuuthayn Di'cantos]

I sat my glass down with a smirk, continuing to stare at the crowd on the dance floor in particular. "I think your Spice might be a bit too desensitizing, love. I'm just a man trying to enjoy himself before going back to work in the morning." My voice was deep and smooth and accented. Flawless, as it usually was when I was incognito. The woman grinned sweetly. "Do you honestly believe that you can fool us, Yuuthayn Di'cantos?" My mind had sirens blaring everywhere. They knew what I was. They knew my name. That could only mean...

The silent man casually grabbed my arm, discreetly placing a blaster to my hip with his other hand so that others couldn't see it. "We know what to expect from you," the woman continued, "Your mother and father made certain of that."

I clenched my jaw a bit, continuing to smirk. No. This couldn't be happening. HOW?? I'd been covering my tracks so well! I always made absolutely certain that I couldn't be followed by anyone. Feth, Feth, FETH!

"They had your DNA cataloged since the moment you were born, dear. All we had to do was track you. Though you did make it exceedingly difficult. Your father will be most pleased to hear that."

She placed her hand on my shoulder in a kind manner. "Now, why don't you just come with us quietly. It's pointless to make a scene in such a nice place."

I chuckled. "Sorry, love. But I'm not going anywhere." In the next second, I kicked the woman off her stool and twisted the man's arm, causing him to drop the blaster. We both dove for it. We were struggling on the ground when a shot rang out through the room. The next thing I knew, there was a sudden, horribly searing pain in my arm. I cried out in surprise, my disguise vanishing.

The man wrestled his blaster from my grasp and stood up. By this time, everyone had stopped to stare at us. The majority of the shocked stares weren't on the two people pointing guns in my face. They were instead trained on my bare, blue-scaled form, with bright red eyes glaring daggers into my attackers.
[member="Kerrick Sereta"]
[member="Skye Reviar"]

 

[Kerrick Sereta]

All it took was for the unmistakable report of a blaster to cause Kerrick to immediately draw theirs. Apparently they weren't the only individuals in the club thinking similarly, as a few others had done the same. That meant possible supporting fire, but left another variable to watch out for as well. That wasn't the time to be concerned with such things, so instead they slid down off of the stool and slowly wove their way through the crowd towards the three that had so far managed to draw the attention of most any and all patrons that were currently killing time in various ways around the establishment. Maybe that was a bad expression to use, given all that had just happened and what it had the potential to escalate into.

Where most would have demanded some kind of explanation they simply fired their own weapon twice, aiming for disabling shots at both the man and the woman, leaving the blue-skinned female, who looked to be caught in the middle of it all, unharmed. Regarding the two with a nonchalant, almost bored gaze, whether the bolts had made contact or not, they finally spoke. "You can leave her alone now. I don't intend to miss the second time." It wasn't spoken with any mocking tone or an air of superiority, just stated as a simple fact, as easily as someone else would tell the color of the sky.

If Skye had chanced to follow them through the crowd they would glance in her direction with a slight smile. "You alright? Just thought I'd go ahead and get the introductions out of the way. No sense in keeping anyone waiting."

With that they looked back to the trio, paying attention to the two that were hopefully wounded in particular. "I would suggest finding the nearest spaceport and getting off of this planet. Maybe never returning. Either way, I'd appreciate it if you left us alone for now." They raised an eyebrow as if in expectation that the two would do as they said with no further prodding necessary, which was an unlikelihood if they'd ever seen one in their life.

[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"], [member="Skye Reviar"]

 

[Auralee]

Skye thought it best to stay put when all the blasters suddenly appeared. Not being armed in that kind of situation made her little more than a meat target. As Kerrick appeared to be settling things a bit, she cautiously stepped in and stood behind her. "Yeah. Just trying not to get shot, you know?" Skye told her with a nervous smirk.

She then looked down at the mysterious blue creature on the floor. What was she? Wasn't she a Zeltron dude a minute ago? The rich red-pink skin had changed to deep, midnight blue scales. The red eyes and hair made her that much more mysteriously beautiful. Skye could barely keep her jaw from dropping.
[member="Kerrick Sereta"]
[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"]

 

[Yuuthayn Di'cantos]

As the man was shot first, the single moment of distraction allowed me to act. Using the Force, I sped myself up a bit and disarmed him before getting to my feet and lunging into the woman. The shot meant for her missed, but I didn't care. I pinned her to the floor with my knees in her shoulders, touching the barrel of the blaster to her skull. I let the girl-eyed stranger do her little speech. But I wasn't quite done yet. The woman gave me a neutral expression despite her current situation.

"Well, Yuuthayn? Are you going to fire, or are you going to just sit there and glare at me?"

I said nothing at first. Instead, I got up, and stood over her. "I have a message for my parents," I said clearly and forcefully. Before her smile could form completely, I shot her in the head.

Throwing the blaster down on the floor next to the woman's corpse, I turned to the wounded man. "Next time you want to try and make me to come home, do it yourselves. I'm tired of dealing with your lackeys. It's pathetic. And annoying." I walked over and pulled him to his feet. He couldn't exactly stand on his leg, but he could walk. That was all he needed to do.

He limped over to the woman's body and picked her up. "You will return, Yuuthayn. We will not stop until you do." The man's voice was deep and threatening.

I put my hands on my hips, seemingly unphased even though my arm was bleeding. "Don't hold your breath."

With that, he walked out the door.

[member="Kerrick Sereta"]
[member="Skye Reviar"]

 

[Kerrick Sereta]

((I have too many threads...but they've finally slowed down and now I've returned with less confusing still neutral pronouns. ))

It appeared that the conflict, if it could be called that from any point of view, had been at least temporarily resolved. And once the man left, carrying the body of his compatriot, Kerrick finally relaxed, holstering xir blaster after flicking the safety back into place. The other stranger didn't seem to be all that much of a threat, though she was certainly intriguing enough regardless. It was plainly obvious she was some type of shapeshifter, likely Shi'ido with the apparent ease with which she switched between forms. That still left something to be desired in and of itself, but xe supposed the answer would come in time.

There was a moment of silence in which xe watched the door to be sure the man wouldn't return with allies, before xe turned their gaze to the woman with the wounded arm, offering a smile. "Friends of yours?" The comment was made with every sense of irony in mind, as it was plainly obvious the three were quite the opposite. Xe gestured to her arm. "You're gonna want to get that looked at. I have a medkit or two on my ship, if you don't want to bother with a hospital and all the people."

Blinking, as if just noticing, xir smile turned a bit sheepish. "Oh, my name's Kerrick, by the way. Kerrick Sereta. Not bad, back there. You know how to handle yourself, which is more than most people can say." Most in the woman's shoes wouldn't have trusted xem, and if xe was being honest xe didn't expect her to exactly jump at the idea either. But the offer was already made, and it was a bit late to take it back.

Xir blue gaze strayed to Skye, the same smile still on xir lips. "Nobody else'll be getting shot, promise."

[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"], [member="Skye Reviar"]

 

[Auralee]

Skye had to look away when the blue woman shot the woman on the floor. She didn't look up until the man had left. Seeing the blood stain on the ground still really bothered her, but she didn't say anything. She fixed her gaze on the blue woman again, noticing that she was hurt. She made no move towards her. If anything, she stayed a bit closer behind Kerrick. This strange new lady was kind of scary.
[member="Kerrick Sereta"]
[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"]