Street Rats

[Arjant Clevenger]

Surviving. Everyday was the same daily routine for Ezra and his mother, [member=Eowyn Ray], and Ezra was sick of it. He was tired of seeing him and, especially his mother living in a vile, disgusting place such as Nar Shaddaa. He was lucky and grateful they were living on Nal Hutta which was ten times worse than its moon, the Smugglers' Moon. Grateful by the fact that he wasn't breathing in toxins and chemicals that invaded most of the mass of Nal Hutta; a good exchange for a bigger population that caused much more violence than on Nal Hutta. Violence and toxins that not even the power and authority of the Techno Union could contain in a box. The passion of crime would continue in the streets of Nar Shaddaa unless there was a planet-wide genocide or Akala appears and breaks Nar Shaddaa in half. Until then the crime lords occupying areas of Nar Shaddaa would bathe in with their credits, slaves, and spice.

Today, it was his mother's birthday and what better way than stealing some credits and buy some expensive jewelry. The best place to steal so much credits would have to be a popular cantina on Nar Shaddaa.

Ezra could only wait for his mother and twirl a blaster pistol on his right index finger.

 

[Vesphira So'Kil]

Today was the day she added yet another year onto how long she had lived .. And what A day it was.. Glancing around at the filth that her and her son lived in, she would sigh softly, the disgust openly visable on her face. The things she would do and the people she would kill so that she could give her son a better life than the one he currently lived. It was this mindset that set Eowyn off in search of her son. Darting in and out of alleyways, she would would soon come up on her son near one of the more popular Cantinas... Oh look.. He had a blaster pistol out, he was up to something and she would soon find out just what he had in mind.


"Ezra, what are you planning? I know that stance and look on your face..."

It was apparent that she was more amused than anything; he was after all her pride and Joy. drifting intp silence, she would stare off into space, a normal occurance that happened on every birthday she had, she would go over her decisons in life, often times second guessing and seeing if there was anything she could of changed. Eowyn, had and would continue to do what ever was needed to ensure that her child had enough in life. This was one of the main reasons she had gotten into the trade that she had, hating every second of it but knowing it was the only thing providing for her child besides him doing what he did.

Shaking her head, her attention was soon focused on the boy before her, a sheepish smile curving her lips at her spacing out once more.

[member="Ezra Denko"]

 

[Darth Metus]

Ezra.

His name was Ezra.

Having now learned of the young man's existence, the Archmaster found it nay impossible to remove him from his thoughts. Not that he would ever want to. It was one of those things that was affected by the perpetual clarity of hindsight. Perhaps, if he had lingered on Nar Shaddaa just a bit longer, he would have learned of the boy's existence. Perhaps, if he had stayed, he would have been able to see him grow. Hell, maybe if he had came back sooner...he could have gotten Ezra off the Smuggler's Moon before it got to him.

Alas, the present was unsavory. His son wasn't inherently bad, not at all. However, he was by far a product of his environment. Ezra had been molded...corrupted...by Nar Shaddaa. Just like his father before him. Speaking from experience, Josiah knew that it would take nothing short of a miracle to shake the Street out of him. So, as opposed to trying to change the boy, Josiah decided to simply be there. Sure, duty called more than he would like, but in those precious moments of leave, Josiah ventured to the Smuggler's Moon.

Today was one such occasion.

Using nothing more than intuition and a touch of the Force, the Archmaster weaved and roamed his way through the streets. He was, humorously enough, much akin to a hound in that moment: picking up the scent and trail of his mark. Eventually, that trail would lead to one of the more popular watering holes on the Moon. Lovely. Strolling inside, Josiah was greeted with a host of familar sights and sounds. Violence. Swearing. Alcohol. Death Sticks. Home sweet home, right? As he moved deeper inside, Josiah's gaze swept to and fro...

Until he found his son.

And a woman beside him.

Oh. Poodoo. Was that Eowyn? Did it have to be Eowyn?

"Well, this is certainly a surprise." he said, attempting to dispel the awkward with a chuckle.

[member="Eowyn Ray"], [member="Ezra Denko"]

 

[Vesphira So'Kil]

Her day went from crappy to even crappier within a matter of seconds. Her once amused expression was replaced with one of absolute disgust. The former affectionate vibe she gave off quickly changed to a hostile one. Glancing at her son and then back at his father. Eowyn did the only thing she felt was right. A blaster was pulled from the confines of her jacket, and then aimed at Josiah's leg and fired. This would occur in a matter of seconds. Now all this was done without even a hint of regret, it blantantly obvious that she had no mind feelings whatsoever for him.

"Josiah, you could of picked a different day to attempt to play father to Ezra.. Because, that's all you are doing... Please, do me a favor and go ruin someone else's day."


Turning to her son, she would give him a look that dared to him say something about her shooting his father like it was the most normal thing in the world. Giving Josiah one more disgusted look, she would debate shooting him again and then decide against it before putting her blaster away once more.

[member="Josiah Denko"]
[member="Ezra Denko"]

 

[Arjant Clevenger]

"Oh, just doing the norm thing, mom. After all, everyone steals on Nar Shaddaa," he replied to his mother when she asked him a question about his stance and facial expression. He didn't want to give away the surprise of what he was planning for her since she already had an amusing face. He would amuse her even more after the little stunt that they were about to do. Right when he about to enter the cantina to cause some havoc his biological father came out of nowhere.

Ho, boy. This ought to be good.

Out of instinct, his mother changed her smiling, amusing, happy face to one that showed hatred, anger, and disgust and shot out a plasma projectile from his blaster to his leg. If this was some sort of couple from the middle class of Corusant, then there would be no weapons involved and they'd be sitting down trying to understand each others point of view; but when one has a mother that lived on the streets of Nar Shaddaa her whole life and a father for a Jedi then were was going to be some lethal violence going around. When his mother threw him a shot that dared him to say something about her actions he looked at his father and then said, "I mean, she has the right to shoot ya...dad," it felt very awkward to call Josiah 'dad' in front of his mother and to him as well. Really weird to call someone their parent when you didn't see them for eighteen years. Hopefully, his mom wouldn't shoot at him for calling Josiah that.

[member="Eowyn Ray"], [member="Josiah Denko"]

 

[Darth Metus]

Although it had been nearly two decades, Eowyn hadn't changed. After all, why would she? The world she called home still carried a sordid reputation; for good reason admittedly. Violence characterized the streets and the people walking them. Morality just so happened to be something in short supply. Having been molded by the Smuggler's Moon, what other response is there? No one holds hands and talks things out on Nar Shaddaa! No. They reach for the nearest blaster and put a hole in their problem. That was exactly the response that Eowyn gave: she reached into her jacket, took aim, and fired.

Now, Josiah happened to be different. The young man who had sired young Ezra varied enormously from the Master standing before them. He could have found a way to evade the incoming bolt. Perhaps the ignition of his saber? Or a simple dive?

Yet, neither of those things happened. Instead, Josiah simply placed his gaze upon the woman he once loved. She had every right to greet him with vengeance, especially considering how things played out. He had made the decision to leave the Hutt Moon in order to follow his father's footsteps. He had decided that Nar Shaddaa had nothing for him. However, if he had just stopped by to say goodbye, maybe the story would have played out differently. Maybe Eowyn could have revealed the gift he helped make. Instead, his departure cursed both her and their son to lives of hardship. Yes, Josiah happened to be ignorant of his son's existence and would have ran back to Nar Shaddaa if he knew.

But that is never an excuse.

So, Josiah took it. He stood fast and let the bolt violently penetrate his flesh. She aimed low, fortunately enough, but that in itself confused him. Eowyn had always stood leagues above him when it came to shooting a blaster, so why was it that she didn't put a bolt between his eyes? Or in his chest? Or even his family jewels? As opposed to any fatal option, she chose to shoot him in the thigh. The bolt singed through the zeyd-cloth, burnt through the plating underneath, and exploded upon his skin. Josiah yelped. Not the manly kind of yelp, mind you, but the sort that preceded falling to the ground arse-first.

He instinctively grabbed at the wound, grit his teeth, and stared up at the woman.

"I'm not attempting to play anything. I didn't know, and it's my own damn fault for putting me first. I was selfish. I didn't think to come back, to say goodbye...If I did, I would have learned that our boy was alive. But I know now, and I want to be there for him. I will be there for him. Accept it or put the next shot somewhere fatal."

And this time, he would be defending himself. Yep.

[member="Ezra Denko"], [member="Eowyn Ray"]

 

[Vesphira So'Kil]

"Josiah, use another day to build up your relationship with my son…"

Her attention was no longer on the male that had fathered her son, it was now on her child. Arching a brow at what Ezra had said, she would chuckle softly and then motion for him to lead the way. Yes, she was going to just leave Josiah there. Today was her birthday and she didn't need him around ruining her day.

"Alright, I'll bite. Show me what you had in mind. Hopefully it is something I'll be able to use my blaster for.."

That said, her attention was directed towards the task that her son had in mind, a welcome distraction to the urge she had to turn around and punch the male that had the nerve to show up on her day in the face. So instead of fighting her son's father in front of him and making things uncomfortable for the boy she would just do her best to ignore and pretend that he did not exist.


[member="Ezra Denko"] [member="Josiah Denko"]

 

[Arjant Clevenger]

He didn't expect his own father take the hit. He thought Josiah would have some armored plates underneath his robes that would protect him from a blaster bolt from his mother's pistols; however, he was wrong since it could be seen that that the man yelped and fell down to the ground, both hands holding on to his leg. The words that he spoke were logical and made sense, but this was Nar Shaddaa. The contraceptives here sucked and were of low quality, meaning that the chances of being pregnant was insignificantly reduced. Thankfully, their feud was over and he and his mother could go back to robbing the cantina they were outside of.

"F'sure, mom," he said to his mother and lead the way to the entrance of the cantina. "If you want to help us on this stunt, then I ain't gonna stop you," he said directly to his father as he turned his head to see him while walking. He wasn't going to go all guns blazing and shooting in all random direction; no, he was going to be friendly to the bartender and reveal his true colors when the appropriate time came. Make it look like he was here for his daily Corellian Ale.

[member="Eowyn Ray"], [member="Josiah Denko"]