Sacred Ground

[Nicair Claden]

He took her words in silence, he wasn't usually one to discuss philosophy.

By this point the pit was being set up for the true events. The sand was being replaced with lighter colored and powdery version. Better to see blood and gore when they spilled.

Nicair settled back and watched the workers prepare.

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

In the ever famous quote, Lirka's thoughts went to one place: "This is where the fun begins."

Leaning back in her seat with half a chuckle she prepared to be completely and utterly disappointed, you don't get to be a champion for years and actually enjoy the sport afterwards...well the "sport", how much of a sport this was could entirely depend on the person, to some people: like Lirka in her crazed much more youthful days it was just partially legal murder. Absolute lunatic, she looked back on those days and cringed.

She followed suite to the Buckethead, but instead she just down more or less an entire glass. Impressive how well the Princess drank.

[member="Nicair Claden"]

 

[Nicair Claden]

He couldn't help but notice her drinking. The Mandalorians were a raucous bunch, steel disciplined when needed, but when off duty they'd be more than willing to drink a bar out.

"I know a couple vod who'd look on that empty glass fondly."

It wasn't something he indulged in, but his resolve was slipping in the coming days. His kind felt next to nothing, nothing that made them relatively human at least. No guilt, no remorse, no fear nor regret. The problem was.. he remembered what those felt like. His brain wasn't able to form into a proper Sociph brain until later in his life thanks to repeated blows to his skull. It is a resilient piece of machinery, the Sociph's brain, the only way it will ever be truly damaged is by its own hand. Mix that with his formative adolescent years, and he could recover from next to anything.

Still, the memories were coming back. The echo, the shadow of emotions he hadn't had to deal with for many years were creeping their way in. He was certain they wouldn't get much worse than they are, nothing more than an emotion's version of a tingling sensation, but they were enough to get him thinking.

Such things didn't have a needed place in his mind, and so he watched as the overnight fights were about to start.

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

Ka just drank, obsessively almost, that was just the way things worked in the Underworld: especially when she wasn’t particularly huge in terms of her reputation back when she served in that pathetic little place.

“Then they can look as fondly as they want.”

She brushed it off almost completely, her hatred of Mandalorians always waxed and waned constantly and right now it was burning strong enough that the thought of a fond look of a Mandalorian was disgusting enough, poor sods would probably end with heads rolling.

She went off to looking at the fights, grunting something out in Huttese to get another drink.

[member="Nicair Claden"]

 

[Nicair Claden]

The crowd was starting to file in once more, different characters than the original. Rougher and with darker looks in their eyes. The drinks began to get stronger and more frequent, some of the audience wasn't quite jaded to what they were seeing just yet. Part of them enjoyed it, it was a side of their personality they probably hadn't realized was there, it was an addictive feeling. The majority of their minds weren't used to the bloodshed just yet, and so they would drink until they became callous to it, or until they died.

Nicair knew the criminal mind better than next to anyone in the galaxy, there was no doubt some of the crowd would go on to murder someone. They didn't have the skill to succeed for very long if at all in the pits, so they would become hunters, preying on the weak. It was one of the reasons he went to these places, best to work a profile before the murders start so that way he can truly track his prey. He wanted to play his own little game with them, catch and release so to speak. So what if a few people had to die for him to have his fun?

His eyes went to a young man he'd seen here before, his face became more drawn in, eyes had heavy bags under them. He was twitching and jumpy. Somebody wasn't sleepy, had a guilty conscience even if he maybe hadn't done anything yet, worried there were eyes on him that could see the dark thoughts he was harboring.

There was. Nicair smiled.

Let the games begin.

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

Did Lirka care about the people who adored filing into hellholes like this to watch savages or the down-on-their-luck sods of the Galaxy fight? No, she didn't. Unless they got in her way, once upon a time she cared a smudge: these blood-hungry spectators were what got her paid, they laid down the bets she got the money from those bets, the whole long list of where credits go in a "fine establishment" like this.

Kicking up her feet, with quick a heavy thud, they were heavy metal boots that had crushed more than their handful of heads Ka let out a chuckle. Oh how her personality swapped when the booze rolled.

"See if their fights are as pathetic as the other ones, won't we Buckethead?"

[member="Nicair Claden"]

 

[Nicair Claden]

He allowed himself to settle back in his chair as the introductions were being made. Some of the regular fighters had nicknames they chose to go by. They varied from the stereotypical to the ambiguous and symbolic. There were, of course, others that simply went by a sort of pen name. Fewer still used their true names. The ones that did were the true professionals, they had no other life outside of the pits.

Nicair watched with practiced eye as the first deathmatch of the night began.

"Elek, we will, pointy ears."

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

Lirka had been a few dozen names in her long career, but eventually she just stuck with being nothing more than Lirka. No last name or any other fancy titles, except what annoucers would give to her, she was just Lirka.

Now, in most normal circumstances being called a pointy-ear would've called for the mighty Lirka-jaw-shattering-punch or counting how many times it would take her to punch someone's face till it did less than resemble much of a face. But this time she didn't do much else other than chuckle, taking a long and hard sip of her drink and watching the Death Matches with a now almost expectable boredom.

[member="Nicair Claden"]

 

[Nicair Claden]

The first fight, a rather slow and less vicious bout, was none the less an entertaining display. By the end a few of the audience members removed themselves from the building, their faces a tinge greener. Not everyone knew what they were getting into down here; he rather enjoyed it when wandering party goers saw the influx of people and figured it would be a good time only to be massively shocked by the goings on in the underworld.

Going hand in hand with semi-legal (Saleucami has strange laws in regards to killing) came the aroma of various illicit substances. Some spelled of the sweetest fruit one can imagine, others reeked of various animal feces. He crinkled his nose at the aromas mingling together before sitting back and continue to watch.

Words didn't feel right to be shared between the two. Nothing more than a pair of old warriors watching the new bloods begin their brutal paths.

He grunted.

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

"Eistaraes, ever fought an Acylay before Bucket-Head?"

Lirka did as she did, look on to the youngin's like the grumpy old lady she was most of the time. Well "old", depended on perspective, Lirka was still rather young for a Sephi: the ripe and proper age of one of their women, 127 years old, but to the rest of the Galaxy she was some ancient and grumpy hag who had a knack for smacking people till they weren't much of people anymore.

But she decided to be less a grumpy old hag, tell some stories, and actually share them with some Mandalorian trash.

[member="Nicair Claden"]

 

[Nicair Claden]

"Not familiar with the beast you're referring to. If you mean acklays from Vendaxa then two. They're entertaining to hunt, lot of legs to keep track of."

The crowd gave a small surge as a young man was cut down, a slash across his abdomen.

That wasn't going to heal quickly..

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

“Molia tal, the hunting is easy. Ever seen one in the pits? Savage little monsters, I fought one on Choah. Just me and the beast...”

Little was an amusing adjective, there was nothing little about a Acklay. She had fought more than one during her long career, but the first one had been the most exciting of it all. She had a nice scar from that one...she seemed. Rather nostalgic, in all truth. Amusing enough too.

The fight itself? Unexciting to her veteran eyes.

[member="Nicair Claden"]

 

[Nicair Claden]

"My preferred prey are terentatek, savage beasts. Predators to their core. I enjoy switching the roles."

Hunting people had its fun, was one of the more intellectually challenging things one could do. You get a taste for hunting dangerous men after awhile, get a scent for blood.

But terentatek and other creatures like it are truly natural born killers. Once upon a time he used their leather for his armor and hung their smaller teeth on some of the joints. The beasts were worthy adversaries, the larger ones a genuine challenge.

He liked challenges.

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

"Met a' Tenerdenerak? Hate that name...but I met one of em' on Rishi."

She didn't acknowledge how she had done next to nothing to actually fall the beast, instead seeing it be crushed by the other people who had been stuck in that strange little problem. Nor did she express her bitterness over the whole thing: Ka was too old to forget things like that now it seemed.

"Too rare for use in Choah though."

[member="Nicair Claden"]

 

[Nicair Claden]

There was a chime and a vibration from his helmet. Few knew how to reach him, fewer could still do it when he had turned his helmet's communicator off. Someone needed to reach him, and he had an idea who.

"I'm afraid something's come up. I enjoyed our little talk. Took me back to.. simpler times. Ret'urcye mhi (goodbye)."

He stood up from the table and threw a few credits down for the service, gave his evening companion a nod, and walked briskly from the establishment.

[member="Lirka Ka"]