Smuggling Not Snuggling

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

”Really?” There was utter disdain in his voice.

”My ship was shot down because some idiots believed in a map that would lead to treasure?” Alistair sounded utterly exasperated. ”What are they lead by a gamorrean?”

That was kind of a negative stereotype, but one common on Tatooine. Most of the time the Gamorreans were servants or guards for the Hutt’s, and all of them were as dumb as a bag of sand. He was sure that there were some intelligent Gamorreans, but he’d personally never actually met any of them.

It’d be like seeing a Krayt Dragon speak.

”Holy kark.” He smacked his forehead. ”How can people be so bloody stupid.”

A treasure map? He’d stopped believing in those when he was six years old. People didn’t just leave their treasure behind and then draw a map to it, that was as stupid as you could get. Sure sometimes there were storehouses, old bunkers and the like where armies and such left their old goods, but treasure maps?

No.

Not at all likely.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"Yeah," head shook, trailing a step or so behind the smuggler. Golden-brown hair framed her singular face. A low whistle left her mouth. "Complete ijeets."

Shoulders shrugged as the hill they walked upon eventually crested to a low ridge. A sparkling lake glittered below the slope. On the other side, they would be able to spot the glint of buildings catching the late afternoon sun in the distance to a moderately sized city. Still seemed to be a good ten miles out. Alistair's feet were really going to be sore.

"Knew a gamorrean professor once. Seemed like a fairly smart one. A bit squealish though." There was something hidden in her smile. Blue's squinted down at the lake, hand running lightly along her bruised side for a moment. The lake had a distinct shape. Seemed familiar.

"Where'd you say we landed again?"

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

"Wasn't named." He told her as he dug around his pack for a moment and pulled out a pair of macro-binoculars.

The survival equipment that he'd packed away was really starting to come in handy. The idea hadn't really been his own, rather one that he carried over from childhood. Kurt had always said itpaid to be ready for anything, and apparently his old friend had been right. Bringing the binoculars up to his face Alistair frowned slightly as he observed the city on the opposite bank of the lake, his lips thinning as he realized that the buildings he saw were mostly decrepit and falling apart.

A part of him knew that he shouldn't have been too surprised, after all this place had been abandoned hundreds of years ago. The fact that some of these durasteel buildings still stood was a testament to just how well they had been built. Hopefully the inside looked better than the outside.

"Just an abandoned colony." He told her. "Probably got left alone when the Old Republic fell, then over the years."

He trailed off as the binoculars were returned to his pack. "Happens more often than you'd think. Tons of places like this in the outer rim."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"Hang on a sec," before he could get those binocs in his pack, she would quickly snatch them - pressing the lens focuses to her face.

Better to ask forgiveness than permission.

"Hmm," voice left a pair of lips in a thoughtful hum. "Looks kinda like the grinning maw of a nexu. The shape of that lake? And that city makes one eye. That rock structure there....and. Yeah. Should be a cave right about there." Binocs zoomed in but couldn't make out much with all the tall trees. They'd have to go see in-person.

Finally, she lowered them and held them out to the smuggler.

"Believe me. I'm not a stranger to outer-rim worlds."

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

He looked at her sideways for a moment, snatching his macrobinoculars back from her and stuffing them into his pack. He wasn't in this for some adventure, and whatever nonsense she had just been babbling about he dutifully ignored. This was about making his ship whole again and then promptly heading towards Ylen. She would be able to find passage there, and no other shadowport was as secure as that place, at least none run by criminals anyway.

"Right." Alistair said.

When he'd scanned the area he'd seen a small path that lead around the lake. It would take them a few hours, but at the very least they would stay dry that way. Then they could explore the buildings and hopefully they would find what they needed to get The Mara's hyperdrive up and running again.

"Down that way." He pointed towards a less sheer cliff-face. "Should get us down."

Without splitting open their skull. "Maybe on the way you can tell me all about those outer rim worlds you know so much about."

Clearly he was mocking her.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"Oh, stop being such a moody mynock," there were glittering sparks of warmth within her wide, starchaser blues. Squirting another hydration pack in her mouth, she stuffed the shell back in her bag. Spotting the path - if you could even call it that, she began picking her way down. It was still steep and they'd have to scramble a bit.

The first bit was particularly steep. She opted for the classic butt-slide. Hands braced behind her as her bum slid just off the ground, feet bracing beneath her. A cloud of rocks and dust spilled down the path as she moved downward.

"Dantooine, Tatooine, Hoth, Ryloth, Sullust," voice trailed off as she kicked up more rocks and dirt. "Careful. This is a steep part." Mainly, she didn't want him falling on top of her. Ribs probably couldn't take it.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

"Wow so you've seen a map then." Alistair said grumpily, clearly a little upset that she had managed to best him on that particular round of banter. He frowned for a moment as he grabbed onto a small vine, lowering himself onto the rock so that he didn't slip and fall down the cliff-face.

Briefly he flashed a glance down into the rocky outcropping.

It was clear that they still had a ways to go, but he didn't really mind this part. Back on Tatooine him and Kurt had often ventured into the canyons. Sometimes they'd hunted for caves, other times they'd stashed their stolen goods within the rocky outcroppings. Climbing had always been a fun activity, even when the Tuskens had started to chase them.

"Let's go a little faster, eh?" Alistair urged, clearly unaware of Kinsey's ribs. "I want to get there before dark."

Hopefully they'd make it.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going." The grade improved a bit so she was able stand back to her feet. Hands brushed the dust quickly off the backside of her pants. Still a climb down though. More rocks and handholds on this part and less of a scrambling slide. Turning her position to face the hillside, she began picking her way down. Hand-foot, hand-foot. Feet-first.

"You know. That cave I was talking about? Should be on the way before we get to the city. I might pop-in when we get closer."

There was no 'might.' She was definitely going to check it out.

Right hand stretched a bit more over her head than she wanted, a sharp-shooting pain traveling up her side.

"OoooEeeee," teeth clenched, air sucked between those teeth. Face cringed and she dropped down to her feet, finally hitting more of a trail rather than a straight climb. "Must've seen a spider," she quickly improvised, hand cradling her side before she straightened.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair cocked an eyebrow. A spider? Did she think that he was a complete idiot or just dense? The Smuggler frowned slightly, his hand unconsciously brushing through his hair as he considered her. After a few seconds he decided not to say anything, though his suspicions were about as tuned up as they could possibly be. Something was up, that much was clear to even him.

He might have been rude but he wasn't done. "Fine."

Alistair said about the cave.

"It'll probably mean we'll have to spend the night in the city." A prospect that he did not really enjoy the thought of. The Mara had a fairly comfortable bed that he was used to sleeping on, the city? Well who knew what had been left behind when the place had been abandoned. Still, if it meant that they could explore a bit and maybe find a few more parts for his ship...then a night spent inside of an abandoned outpost wasn't the worst thing.

"Let's just hope we don't find any monsters in your cave of mysteries." He waved his hands as though he were scared. "They could be guarding the treasure."

Obvious sarcasm.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"Well I'm just glad abandoned cities don't scare you Mister Fenn." The explorer shot the smuggler a sure-fired grin. "I'll need you around to scare off the spiders." Easy to make fun of yourself even when it was a lie. "Since you're so speedy, why don't you take the lead," she motioned him ahead, making room on the already narrow path for him to pass. Looked like the glittering shores of the lake were just below a few more winds of the trees.

It was a pebbly-shore, mixed with sand.

She could hear the gentle laps of water against the grain from here - even through the woods and rock outcropping.

"Is sarcasm the only language you know?"

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair wandered past Kinsey, his eyes set on the small pebble surface before him. He always hated this kind of terrain, in fact large bodies of water had always made him sort of uneasy. Back on Tatooine oceans, lakes, hell even puddles didn't really exist. The twin suns, or whatever else, had scorched any water not in the air off of the planet a long time ago.

One time he'd been on a trip to Dac, that had been...well the whole thing had made him very uneasy. "Close to it."

The smuggler told his companion.

"I also speak Huttese." Well, he understood it. You couldn't really speak Huttese unless you had the tongue for it, and most humans just didn't. That was the funny thing about the slugs, even their language was only for the 'elite'. "Though it's basically the same thing."

As he continued their path the crunch of pebbles moving against one another began to echo out.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

The swarthy-looking rogue would soon hear the crunch of pebbles behind him as she too made it down to the pebbled beach. She also gave the lake a wide-berth. A look she couldn't see on his face would match unease with unease. She'd grown up on colony ships and there had never been a heed or even a way to learn how to swim.

She just didn't have the skill.

And during the casino job with the Vagrant fleet, it had almost cost her big.

Luckily, one of her good friends was a nautolan. But still. That nautolan wasn't always around.

"Ha," she chuckled. "You remind me of my friend, Kurt." It was an absent and off-hand comment. Starchaser-blues looked to Alistair's face a bit more closely. His draw. That olive skin. Huttese.

"Let me guess, from Tatooine?"

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Kurt?

He frowned deeply for a moment, though he thought it little else but coincidence until she continued on. As soon as she mentioned Tatooine he froze for a second. Every fiber of his body wanted to round on her and say something, but ultimately he decided not too. "Huh."

Alistair responded quietly.

"Good guess." How did she know Kurt? What the hell did she have to do with him and more importantly...did she know they were connected? No, that was impossible. His lips thinned for a moment but he decided not to touch on it. It was best to keep his distance. That had always been his policy with passengers and he wasn't about to change it now, not when things were getting...odd. He frowned and then continued to walk. "Probably because we're all so good looking."

He glanced back at her, ignoring her comment about Kurt. "Tan and all that."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"Sure, sure. That and the sarcasm. And your award-winning and warm personality." Her turn for the sarcastic tone. Head shook, mousy-brown ribbons of hair hiding a smile that curled along her mouth. Eyes panned away from the smuggler, searching the curve of the lake's shore.

"Look," she was able to draw along his side so they were walking shoulder-to-shoulder. "Hand pointed across the grey-blue expanse. "Looks like a trail at the bend. Probably our best bet. Maybe an old roadway."

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

"Kark, finally." He was really getting unsettled by that lake.

Alistair couldn't swim after all.

He frowned slightly as he began to stalk forward, motioning for her to follow him. The path was still there, surprisingly, though the reason for it became clear as he stepped upon the first of more than a few cobblestones that had been set down. The smuggler let out a whistle.

"They used actual stone." Who did that? It was so odd. "Must have taken some work."

Of course most of the path was overgrown, but it was still there.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"Yeah," blues squinted down at the path. "Not too uncommon for a world like this. Could've had colonized equipment. I'm glad they used this instead of the First Order crap."

That stuff was so mass produced, it seemed to fall apart rather quickly. Load of chit. Fingers dug in her pack, taking out a small, golden colored box. She flipped the top open. It was a compass. The girl paused, gnawing on her lowerlip.

"Yup. Gotta go this way to the cave." Without waiting for Alistair, she stepped off the path and into the thick foliage. Very independent minded, this girl.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

He shrugged.

Alistair hadn't really had much interaction with the First Order. Most of their worlds were...well not exactly economic powerhouses. He knew that they were fighting a war with the Galactic Alliance, but how they maintained that with only a few Industrially powerful worlds he had no idea. Far be it from him to understand Military strategy and that sort of thing.

He was just a smuggler. "Ugh."

Alistair said to himself quietly as Kinsey began to head off the path, watching her for a moment. He considered leaving her behind, just letting her run to whatever cave she was after and heading to the city on herself, but then he was reminded who exactly had sent her to him. The Cartel would likely be rather displeased if he arrived at his destination sans this woman...and if she was dead...well that wouldn't go over well either. His lips thinned and his hand fell onto his blaster.

"Bloody women." The smuggler said to himself.

Always causing trouble.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

He probably should've left her. Not like Felix would ever hear about it and even if he did, it's not like he was attached at all to Kinsey. Of course, Alistair didn't know any of this. And Kinsey was in her element.

Exploring.

Okay, her second element. First would probably always be flying or fixing something mechanical.

Form wove easily within the spaces between bushes and trees. One hand never let go of that compass. Blues shifted between the readout and her own trail through the woods and rocks. Like being able to fly via astronavogation, she could probably find the cave without any instrument. She just knew where to go. It was the one thing that came easy through the force.

Didn't mean she never made mistakes though.

Boot hit a patch of slippery pine straw and she felt herself sliding down the hill's slope. Sharp pain lanced up her side as she quickly corrected herself. Eyes squeezed closed.

"Ow, ow, ow," she grumbled, hunching over.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair stopped at the top of the small hill, pointedly letting his boots land right on the very edge.

He spotted Kinsey falling down, or at least beginning to fall down, and he even made an attempt to grab her. It was a sort of half-hearted move in all honesty, he wasn't about to sacrifice himself or anything, but he didn't want her dead just yet. His hand however fell short, and as the young woman began to fall down the slope Alistair let out a sort of half choked gasp.

A spike of fear ran through him.

The smuggler thought about all the horrible ways that the Coratanni Cartel could have him killed. Mutilation, torture, being thrown out of an airlock. Everything was possible with those people, and if that woman die-

Thankfully just as he got to the crux of his rather morbid trip of fantasy Kinsey began to make noise again. She hunched over, clutching herself. A small sigh of relief escaped Alistair and slowly, albeit carefully, he began to make his way down to where the pilot now was. After a moment of rather expert traversing The Smuggler ended up standing besides Kinsey, his eyes checking her over to see if she was bleeding or had broken a bone. "Should be more careful."

He commented simply, reaching into his pack and pulling out a bottle of pills.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Gaze tracked away from herself to his boots at eye level and then on up past his five o'clock shadow. "Wow," smile faltered to a grimace. She took a breath and stood, unable to keep one hand from cradling her ribs. Spreading blacks, purples, and blues spread along the skin beneath the cloth of her shirt.

"Careful, almost sounds like you having a caring bone in your body. Might ruin that rough and roguish personality of yours."

She smirked and began to straighten. Real gingerly. Take it slow, Kins. You've got this.

"See? Hiking can be...fun."