Private Mountain Madness

[Starlin Rand]

“What’s that? You’ll pay me back with interest?” Starlin grinned. “Yeah yeah, we’ll split it. How much is the songsteel one?”

Oona named a price high enough to make Starlin whistle. “Well Eli, you ain’t a cheap date, that’s for sure.” He pulled out his wallet and managed to prevent all his business cards from falling out this time. “No matter how rich your family is, I don’t think you have a million credits just lying around…”

“What is that?” Oona asked, suddenly grabbing Starlin’s arm.

Starlin froze, a bit wary of her touch. But she was wholly distracted by the metal bracelet on his wrist. The relatively ordinary-looking piece of jewelry had been hidden by his sleeve. “Oh, heh. That’s a tal’kar bracelet.”

“Tal’kar?” she echoed, fingering the chain. “I can sense the magical properties… It protects you from magic and alchemy. Where did you get it?”

“Uh, I found a small piece of it in some ruins. Took it to a blacksmith, had it made into this.” Starlin started to tug on his arm, hoping she would get the hint.

She finally let go of him. “The bracelet would be enough of a trade for both items.”

“No thanks.” He handed her his credit chit, trying to hurry things along.

Taking the chit, Oona disappeared around a corner. “It’s my fault I didn’t pay you much mind when you first walked in. But now I see you’re positively loaded with enchanted materials. Some of it I recognize the signature of, but not all…” She peeked back at him. “Are you really a Jedi?”

Starlin frowned, not sure where this was going. “Yeah?”

His danger sense flared seconds before a sword came slashing down on top of him. Blue light filled the room as his lightsaber ignited, catching the blade in a bind over his head.

“What the hell are you doing?!” he demanded.

“Tal’kar is a very rare material. So rare, in fact, that in all my travels, I’ve never been able to find any trace of it.” She lifted her chin. “If you aren’t willing to part with it, I’ll simply have to take it from you.”

Eyes widening, Starlin pushed her away, backing up to put some distance between them. “Eli, get out of here!”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

A high number indeed.​

​

To Eliphas it felt like something akin to a punch in the gut... But he was a man of his word, so he began to reach for the credit chits he kept within a pocket on the inside of his jacket. He faltered in this act only upon seeing how strangely obsessive the witch became over a certain bracelet upon Starlin's wrist.​

​

He could sense almost immediately that something was wrong. The hairs on the back of his neck began to prickle, and a sense of unease washed over him. Even as she and Starlin discussed the item, Eliphas found himself glancing around for some sort of way out of the general vicinity. It was something he'd been taught to do long ago, to be mindful of one's surroundings and ways out of danger. House Dune had been targeted several times throughout the generations, one could never be too careful.​

​

Their exchange came to a head when the woman disappeared around a corner moments before a sword was drawn and cut toward Starlin. With the rapier already in hand the fight or flight instinct kicked in and despite the Jedi's insistence that he leave he brandished the weapon with a grace that was indicative of at least some level of training.​

​

"Leave him alone!" he bellowed out, with more emotion in his tone than he'd shown that entire day combined. Injustice was not something he could stand by.​

​

Starlin Rand ​

 

[Starlin Rand]

Oh. Eli wasn’t leaving, he was trying to join the fight. Oh no. Oh hell.

Faced with two armed opponents, Oona didn’t screw around. One hand flicked toward Eli, sending several items from her shelves sailing through the air toward him. Some of those objects were pointy. Starlin threw up a wall in front of the kid to protect him, fully aware that he was opening himself up to attack in the process. He just really wasn’t in the mood to see Eli get skewered.

To his surprise, Oona didn’t rise to the bait. “You don’t have to do this,” Starlin said, still trying to talk some sense into her before he had to, y’know. Knock some sense into her. “There are better ways of getting tal’kar.”

“Such as?”

“Uh… HoloBay?”

She sliced at his throat, and she was fast. As in, she actually drew some blood before he had a chance to parry. As he leaped backwards, his neck stinging, he saw her lips curl into a smirk as she swung her sword at Eli. Not to kill, but to disarm him (goodbye Eli’s hand, ouch) and take him hostage.

No one could say Oona Zelda didn't drive a hard bargain.

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Though everything the boy had shown thus far suggested an inexperience in the ways of combat, he'd only really been presented with the option of wielding a blaster. They were untamed weapons, which could end a life at less than a moments notice, and to the Tetan Noble they felt very impersonal. Not a thing he wanted to use if he had to end a life, that much was for certain. It felt wrong for such an integral part of someone's life, the end that is, to be carried out at the whim of one single trigger pull.​

​

The fact was, though, he wasn't entirely inexperienced. He was a noble boy, after all, and his father expected certain traditions to be upheld. Throughout their upbringing he and his siblings - even sweet Annalis - had been taught the art of swordplay. At first it had been fencing lessons, but as they grew so too did the intensity of their practice. Of course, being away from home as long as he had meant Eliphas wasn't a well oiled machine as of late, he hadn't the space to practice.​

​

But he wasn't going to take this whole thing lying down, either.​

​

So when the woman brought her own sword down intent on cutting off his hand, or at the very least disarming him, Eliphas shifted both his stance and the angle of the blade to deflect the blow and lock blades with her.​

​

If nothing else, he hoped it would provide Starlin with some sort of opening.​

​

Starlin Rand ​

 

[Starlin Rand]

Oona’s smile vanished as Eli not only escaped her attempt at disarmament, but caught her in a bind.

Behind her Starlin lunged, stabbing his lightsaber towards her exposed back. Baring her teeth, the sorceress thrust out her hand—and the magic shop abruptly collapsed, reality seeming to warp around them.

The floor split beneath their feet, revealing the molten fires of a forge below. Starlin leaped out of the way, cursing. He couldn’t tell what was real and what was an illusion, and he wasn’t about to take any chances. “Eli! Watch out!”

While Oona and Eli continued to duel with swords, and their surroundings grew more and more warped, Starlin uttered a spell: "’Molten metal and cold iron mark where darkness fears to tread; Ashla, repurpose this as a receptacle for the wretched…’"

He aimed it at Oona’s sword… only for the spell to rebound.

“Oh shit—”

A sheet of untreated metal promptly slammed into Starlin with enough force to knock the lanky Jedi Knight across the room. He just barely managed to prevent himself from falling into the molten pit.

“Yoda on a unicycle!” he howled in pain and frustration, staggering to his feet. He hadn’t stopped to think about how all Oona’s weapons were enchanted, including protections to prevent against magical manipulation. Syd Celsius would’ve been embarrassed to see him commit such an obvious blunder, but hey, you live and you learn. Or you die miserably, that’s always a possibility too.

Gritting his teeth, Starlin found that, for the first time in a long time, he had no clue what to do. There were no tricks he had that could end this fight instantly, nor could he use the environment to his advantage, because Oona had distorted their surroundings to the point where they were unrecognizable. Was that sand from a broken hourglass? Possibly, but for all he knew it could be spilled flour, so no Geokinesis. He was still bleeding, but Hematokinesis was dangerous, taxing, and he hadn’t had much luck with it in the past. He was scared to even attempt Pyrokinesis, after what had happened during his duel with Halketh on Lao-mon...

Finally, he had an idea. Since Oona seemed to be underestimating him, why not give Eli a surprise boost? “Eliphas Dune,” he marked the young cadet as the target of his next double-spell. “‘Ashla, grant him the strength of the Rancor; show him he can be strong without anger. Grant him the speed of the Falcon; show him he can be swift without passion…’”

As he released the spell, he hung back a little, watching and waiting to see what would happen to the recipient of his magical buffs. He'd never done this to anyone else before, so hopefully it wouldn't backfire and cause Eli's heart to explode, or anything like that.

kick her ass Lief​

 

[Lief]

When their surroundings shifted and the ground erupted, Eliphas' eyes grew tenfold. A yelp of surprise left him, and he made the mistake of ever so slightly drawing back from their clash of blades. Not enough that they were no longer touching, but definitely providing her with some slack with which to push back.​

​

He didn't know what to do.​

​

He hadn't thought this plan through.​

​

Stumbling forward he tried to press his luck. He dropped down, releasing her blade entirely, and tried to duck beneath the natural path it took. He swore he could feel his hair singing, smell it as it burned some. Tried to take the opening he'd provided himself with, attempting to knock her back into the potentially treacherous trench she'd formed around them.​

​

If nothing else it would help to diffuse some of the illusions at play. Show them roughly where they could step, right?​

​

He wasn't aware of the trick Starlin was pulling off, though, so when next he moved it was with unexpected grace and speed. His eyes widened once more, and the boy seemed fairly shaken. His next parry of her swiping blade seemed to shake her too, the blow holding far more weight than he could ever have put behind it...​

​

Starlin Rand ​

 

[Starlin Rand]

Oona sensed something was afoot, but too late to prevent the spell from going into effect. Eli came at her with Force-enhanced strength and speed, his blade crashing into hers. While she was a competent swordswoman, she could not fend off a superhuman opponent.

She drew upon the Force to keep up, diverting energy from her illusions in the process. The shop no longer seemed quite so uncanny. Starlin leaped across the shrinking divide and sliced at Oona’s back with his lightsaber. She evaded the paralyzing move, but slipped up when it came to Eli’s next blow, which struck her chest. Starlin finished her off by cutting off her sword arm. She collapsed to her knees.

“Do you yield?” Starlin demanded.

Oona didn’t speak, but she lowered her head in silent submission. Her expression was contorted into a snarl from pain and rage.

“A million credits for a sword,” Starlin muttered. “And you almost killed me over a bracelet. That’s some pretty incredible greed, lady. All you got for it was a missing arm and an ass-whooping from a kid half your age.”

The shop seemed to have returned to normal. Without paying, Starlin headed for the door.

Once Oona was out of earshot, he glanced at Eli. “That spell of strength and speed will wear off eventually. Just don’t hug your girlfriend in the meantime, or anything like that.”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Eliphas could not help but wonder, as he looked down on the knelt body of the witch, how the dice would have landed if he hadn't seemed quite so hopeless and incompetent from the off. The scent of burning skin permeated the air in the aftermath, one of the woman's arms laying lifeless on the ground beside her. It made him want to gag. It was putrid, in truth.​

​

He took a step back. Dropped the rapier even. Stared at her helpless form which seethed with indignation. Was this the price which came with power? Was this where avarice would lead? If so he wanted no part in it.​

​

When Starlin left so too did he. No blade in hand. He'd quite forgotten the necklace in his pocket, though. One small unintentional act of theft... A small price when it had almost cost him his life. He looked queasy and green, but the mountainous air helped to ease all of that away with a few breaths.​

​

"That was crazy," he exhaled, running a hand up through his hair. He was about to ask how he'd done all that, but Starlin beat him to the punch. A spell... He'd been under a spell. It made sense, but left him feeling weird. Best he be wary until it wore off then. "Has that happened before? Has someone fought you for a trinket like that?"​

​

Mindboggling.​

​

Eliphas was grateful he wasn't lost within a world of mysticism himself. It sounded ridiculous. Like some holodrama.​

​

Nosiree. Not for him.​

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Starlin Rand ​

 

[Starlin Rand]

"Has that happened before? Has someone fought you for a trinket like that?"

"Yup. Although it's usually in the form of a competition over who gets the loot—I mean, artifacts. Yes. Priceless artifacts that belong in a museum." Starlin smirked as he raised his comlink. "Hello, police? I was just attacked by a woman in her shop. Yeah, I cut her arm off. Nah, I'm a Jedi Knight. Sure. It's Starlin Rand, that's S-T-A-R-L-I-N..."

Calling the cops might seem almost comical in such a situation, but think about it. You can't just go around lopping off people's limbs in public and expect everyone, especially the local authorities, to understand. You had to be the first person to report the incident and make sure your side of the story went on the record.

Finishing up his call, Starlin glanced at Eli. "You didn't take the sword?... Good call, actually. Will be easier for you to get off free."

Distant sirens were rapidly approaching. Starlin grinned and rested his hands on his hips as a squad of police speeders arrived on the scene. "Now that's what I call emergency services!"

One of the cops glared at him as he exited his vehicle. "You again? Didn't I tell you to get lost last night?"

"Not to worry, sir. I'm due to leave sometime later today. It's just that this young cadet needed a guide through your lovely town, and I, being already quite familiar with the place, offered to help. It was simply bad luck that we ran into someone as unpleasant as Ms. Oona Zelda—if that's even her real name—at the magic shop back here."

"Oona Zelda?" The officer scratched his head, glancing at Eli. "What do you have to say about all this?"

Lief​

 

[Lief]

It all happened so fast. One minute they were catching their breath, and being thankful for their lives, and the next the police were being called to respond. Eliphas sort of stared at him, not having had a chance to respond to his initial statement about how commonplace it was for him to be hounded for relics.​

​

What a dizzying life he seemed to lead. Busy and fraught with danger. He did not envy him that.​

​

Call made, Starlin then remarked on the rapier he'd left behind. "I don't want that crazy witch coming after me," he stated, rather plainly, "My life is not worth a sword, I'll tell you that for nothing." He remained tight lipped about the fears it had awoken within him. He'd be happy if he never saw an enchanted item or a purveyor of the darkside ever again.​

​

The police arrived faster than anticipated, putting an end to any of the words he might have let slip anyway. He let Starlin deal with them, he seemed the more experienced in this department. But much to his displeasure he discovered they wanted his side of the story too. He had to fight not to fumble.​

​

"Uh, I mean, what he said is pretty much it. He was showing me how to get up here, then we ended up in her shop. She wanted something of his," he tipped his head toward Starlin as though that wasn't already immediately clear, "And when he wouldn't let her have it, she tried to kill him!"​

​

He fell silent soon after, glancing between police and Starlin. Hoping he hadn't put his foot in his mouth at all.​

​

Starlin Rand ​

 

[Starlin Rand]

Nodding his head, Starlin added, "Yeah, that was what set her off—a piece of rare jewelry I was wearing…"

He went on to explain in detail what had occurred, answering questions and the like. The cops took notes and recordings, as well as their contact information, then proceeded into the magic shop. A few minutes later a very quiet and withdrawn Oona was escorted out of the building and into an ambulance.

For the most part, the police appeared satisfied with Starlin's story. They were used to this sort of thing by now.

"Okay, you can go free," the officer said. "But I'm gonna have to ask you both to leave. Stay off the streets, return to your ship, and depart as soon as possible. Got it?"

"Got it," Starlin echoed. Turning to Eli, he said, "Sorry to cut your shore leave time short, kid."

Lief​

 

[Lief]

"It would have been cut a lot shorter if she had her way," he muttered once all was said and done and they were preparing to make their leave of the town. It hadn't been what he was expecting, this mountainous grotto, but it had been exhilarating and different if nothing else.​

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He began to retrace their steps back toward the speeder. It felt like hours had passed since they'd parked it, though the sun had barely moved in the sky. He huffed out a shallow breath, then mounted it. Waited for Starlin to follow suit, provided he had no need to further linger. The boys muscles were beginning to ache something fierce, and he hoped he could make it back to the ship before fatigue followed suit.​

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"Come on," Eliphas sighed, "There's a holo-chess table in the ship's lounge, if you're into that sort of thing." If not? Well, they'd figure out something to do. Or he could just let Starlin do his own thing, of course. The boy might have had time to kill still, but that didn't mean he was entitled to the Jedi's.​

​

Either way when both were ready he kicked off back to the ship, wondering where their crazed benefactor would have them landing next.​

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Starlin Rand ​