The Odyssey

[Odysseus]

“Men are so quick to blame the gods: they say
that we devise their misery. But they
themselves- in their depravity- design
grief greater than the griefs that fate assigns.”
― Homer, The Odyssey

"I dreamt it again, I stood upon the precipice of a stone pillar, high over the forests. Great eagles flocked to my presence, and a spellbinding sunrise captivated my eyes," Odysseus spoke to himself. His finger was against the dirt-packed floor, tracing small rectangles and circles. The slave pens were sheltered by shingle roofs resting upon tall beams, protecting the slaves from the noon heat or an unexpected storm. But the sides were open slats and crossbeams, so the Mandalorian mercenaries could watch the captives. The Lorrdian looked up with his hazel eyes and studied the ten-foot fence, knowing he could easily climb over, but by the time he reached the top and crawled through the space between the fence and the crossbeams supporting the roof three feet above, the mercenaries would be waiting for him.

Odysseus considered his plight, only briefly. He rolled his shoulders under the rough shirt they had given him, fighting the impulse to scratch. He was squatted in the pen, with barely an inch of room to move about. Two hundred slaves were crammed in with him, some of them were large enough that if they even thought to budge an inch, they would send a wave of collapsing bodies and squash Odysseus against the fence. He mumbled inaudibly under his breath at whatever forsaken deity had gotten him caught here. He swept back his auburn hair with sun-baked hands, and looked down at a woman sleeping beside him. They had thrown her in recently, and she looked about ready to wake up at any second.

 

[Agnetha Argead]

She stood alone atop a snow-peaked mountain, staring into the limbo of the luminescent night her home planet of Hapes was cursed with. Whether it had been a burden or a blessing was never truly known. The harsh wind blew through her wild, crimson curls. It flew behind her like a phoenix risen from the ashes as she stared into the sky at the seven moons of Hapes. The wind brought with it whispered words, "I dreamt it again, I stood upon the precipice of a stone pillar, high over the forests. Great eagles flocked to my presence, and a spellbinding sunrise captivated my eyes." Agnetha thought on these words for a moment. It felt like they hadn't been hers to hear, an intrusion that she had stumbled upon, though she hadn't known how. She felt a slight tremble below her feet. The ground below her seemed to fall from where she stood, crumbling like sand sifted through hands. The moons fell below the horizon. No longer a beacon of light to guide her path. She became aware of the sudden beating of her heart. The incessant pounding pushed through her body, up to her head as if it was preparing to speed up enough to shoot itself out of her body. The sound filled her head until everything turned black around her.

She awoke with a start, realising that there was barely enough room for that. Bodies compressed on her, making it even harder to catch her breath as she woke from the nightmare of a lost home. Panic coursed its way through her body as she allowed her sense to adjust to the unfamiliar surroundings. Her skin felt grimy and scathed by the course material that sat atop it. There were no familiar faces marked with grins to greet her. Only downturned faces with eyes that screamed of a great sadness. Her body pushed on the others that surrounded her to stand. Though, the space provided barely allowed for that. The crowd audibly protested as she tried to make space enough to stand. The Hapan bellowed to the grate above, in some hope somebody would recognise her and help. The only reaction was that of the shadows that danced above as her captors passed by, patrolling. Agnetha pleaded desperately to be let out. She had been a figure of aristocratic society, she was not about to be caged like an animal. Only silence answered her cries for help. Hopelessness ached through her bones, her knees hitting the floor with a hard thump. Sobs tore their way through her body, the sound crowding the already minuscule space. She lay on the floor, her face wet with tears. Dreaming of her comfortable home life.

 

[Odysseus]

Odysseus watched her burst out of her sleep like a bucking horse. He pushed himself against the fence to give her some room, even if it was measured in centimetres. He watched the storm of desperation wash through her before cultivating in anguish. He wasn't sure how to act, he had seen perhaps a dozen other men and women react this way and Odysseus had just watched. He looked up to the beams above his head, then to the space between the fence. He knew he still wasn't getting out, not with the Mandalorians watching his every movement. Odysseus rested an unsettling hand on her shoulder, a poor effort to comfort the woman, "Ah, it's going to be okay. What's your name?"

Odysseus turned his back to the fence, but studied the fence from the corner of his eye. About three boards down, a warp had bowed the fence outwards slightly, pushing a nail out. Odysseus ambled down the pen and leaned against that board and could feel the nailhead poking him in the shoulder. He turned suddenly, hooked the edge of his cuffs over the nail, then with a quick yank the nail was free. He was quick to hide it, placing it in the only place where things could be kept hidden when you didn’t have pockets; his underwear. He manoeuvred himself through the crowd to stand beside Agnetha again, "The auctions is in a few days, so at least the guards will feed us good. They won't send us there with bags under our eyes and hollow cheeks."

 

[Agnetha Argead]

She felt the uncomfortable shuffling of strangers, as if they were allergic to her emotions. She preferred this reaction. The only comfort she had felt in her old home came from the help. They were always willing to care for her, her parents too busy. She had become accustomed to being on her own. Every challenge she had overcome by herself, with a little conversation here and there with the servants of the house. A hand broke through the awkward silence caused by her outburst. She had since stifled her sobs, containing them instead in a prison in her chest. The warmth of the hand radiated throughout her body. Though she was not about to take any sympathy. Her eyes looked up to the person the hand belonged to. He seemed tall, even though seated. She glanced up and down his body. He wasn't necessarily built, something that she contributed to the conditions he would have been kept in, though he was clothed in the same material she had been. Nothing unusual, everybody surrounding her was. The colour of his eyes struck her. They were a beautiful hazel that had a genial nature to them. He spoke to her, "Ah, it's going to be okay. What's your name?" She had never cared for small talk. He didn't seem all that comfortable with it either. She managed only the response of "Agnetha."

She watched an odd exchange take place between the stranger and the cage. He scrambled down, subtly enough that you could only see had you been paying attention to him. He seemed to scratch himself on the wall. Agnetha looked away. It seemed private somehow. Like he didn't want anybody to see. It seemed sneaky but Agnetha was smarter than to stick her nose in other peoples business. Her family on Hapes had been all about secrets. What did she expect when her parents still saw her as a child and were often too occupied running their own business to notice her. She learnt to mind her own business and to keep to herself. To be seen but not heard. Slumping on the floor had proved uncomfortable, though there was not enough room to move drastically. She managed to sit up slightly, releasing the tension on her back. She was small anyway, about five foot. Fitting into the crowd like a smaller jigsaw piece would be easy. The stranger returned and sat beside her once again. No doubt in for some more small talk. He would soon learn that she wasn't big on words. He stood above her, towering and spoke "The auctions is in a few days, so at least the guards will feed us good. They won't send us there with bags under our eyes and hollow cheeks." Panic once again coursed its way through her veins like fire on the Primeval forest of home. How she longed to stand in the nature of Hapes once again and forget this awful place. Curiosity did break through her panic as she questioned him, "What auction? Are we being sold as servants? I hardly believe that the promise of extra food is any consolation to this horrid place."

 

[Odysseus]

Agnetha said, "What auction? Are we being sold as servants? I hardly believe that the promise of extra food is any consolation to this horrid place." Odysseus laughed at what he thought was her attempt at humour, "I wish I was being sold as a servant." His wrists were blinded by a pair of metal cuffs, primitive in design and Odysseus could only guess that the planet he was on was some backwater one in the Outer Rim. It was only those few far-fetching planets that still adhered to slavery, and electronic cuffs out there were just too expensive to purchase. He placed both his hands beneath his waistline, hands shuffling against the fabric as he spoke, "Though I don't think being a slave will be all that bad, but it isn't the life for me." He grunted, and something metallic clicked. When he pulled out his hands, a nail was lodged into the key hole of the cuffs, and they were now undone.

He squatted down beside Agnetha, whispering in her ear. He didn't know why he was telling her this, but he felt a compulsion too. "Look up," his hazel eyes drifted up to the beams crisscrossing below the ceiling. Odysseus slipped the manacles off his wrists and rubbed them, welts had formed along the skin from them. “I want you to stand up and I’ll lift you up there.” He motioned his head towards the Mandalorians, “They’re too busy playing Sabaac to notice if we’re quick.” Without confirmation from the woman, Odysseus began to pull down his trousers. They were the only things they let him keep, made of a strong denim. The only material that would be strong enough to not tear in two. He stood in his tunic and underwear, and cupped his hands for Agnetha to stand on. “Once you’re up there, wrap my pants around the beam and I’ll pull myself up.”

 

[Agnetha Argead]

"I wish I was being sold as a servant." A comment that struck dread into Agnetha's heart. If she thought being a servant was bad then what on Hapes did they have in store for them? She looked down towards her hands, bound by cuffs. Hope faded away as she sat and contemplated their future. She glanced towards him. The disgusting oaff put his hands inside his pants and fumbled around. Agnetha scoffed in disgust and looked away, there was no need to even grace him with her glare if he was going to be like that. He spoke, "Though I don't think being a slave will be all that bad, but it isn't the life for me." Adding a grunt. It seemed like his last comment was trying to be sympathetic and avoid any offence on her behalf. Something that he had already done when he'd stuck his hands down his pants in front of her. A small metallic clicking drew her eyesight towards him as she watched the cuffs fall away from his wrists.

She watched him as he positioned himself beside her, close enough to whisper. The Hapen recoiled, but only slightly. She had no cares about seeming rude to the stranger. After all, he hadn't even introduced himself yet. He whispered in her ear, "Look up," Her pale blue eyes followed his to the overhead beams. As she stared he spoke, “I want you to stand up and I’ll lift you up there.” An escape? "No way." He was crazy. She had wanted to be free just as much as anybody else but there was no way she was risking her life. Surely she would be freed when they found out who she was. He motioned his head towards the bars of the cage once again, “They’re too busy playing Sabaac to notice if we’re quick.” She watched as he pulled down his trousers. Firstly he shoves his grimy hands down his pants and now he takes his pants off in front of her? Agnetha noted that this man was lacking in any aristocratic customs. Unable to look away she watched as his stood up in a mere scratchy shirt and underwear. He cupped his hands at waist level, “Once you’re up there, wrap my pants around the beam and I’ll pull myself up.” Agnetha was outraged. She folded her arms across her chest in protest, leaning in to whisper, "There is no way you can just expect me to climb up there and risk a certain death. Once they find out who I am they will release me anyway."

 

[Odysseus]

Agnetha protested, "There is no way you can just expect me to climb up there and risk a certain death. Once they find out who I am they will release me anyway." Odysseus considered this for a moment, but he didn't relax his stance. "You can look at it this way. They find out whoever you are, because I don't care, and they certainly won't, they will just sell you for higher, and you'll probably become some fat slugs plaything and courtesan. Me? I hear those flying bugs from Geo-whatever like slaves to fight in their arena's. I ain't going there. No way. Now, do you wanna' help me help you, or do you want to wait until you have to do some ungodly triple x thing to a Hutt. Just get on my damn hands and get up there, alright?"

 

[Agnetha Argead]

The stranger replied in protest, "You can look at it this way. They find out whoever you are, because I don't care, and they certainly won't, they will just sell you for higher, and you'll probably become some fat slugs plaything and courtesan. Me? I hear those flying bugs from Geo-whatever like slaves to fight in their arena's. I ain't going there. No way. Now, do you wanna' help me help you, or do you want to wait until you have to do some ungodly triple x thing to a Hutt. Just get on my damn hands and get up there, alright?" Agnetha had no other option. The fear of what may lie ahead struck her heart and urged her hands to grab the tough material from him. Those around them watched the exchange quietly and curiously. She replied to him with a single "Fine." Remembering that her handcuffs had not yet been taken off she swallowed her pride and asked for a favour, "You want me to climb up there with these handcuffs still on?" She waited for him to undo her restraints and began to climb to the top. Wobbly at first, she soon gained her balance. She reached for the top bars, wrapping the thick denim around the bars. She stepped down, waiting for him to take the chance to climb up.

 

[Odysseus]

"Alright, deal," Odysseus said as he jammed the nail into her own handcuffs, wiggled it around before a resonating click declared the cuffs had been undone. He pulled them off her wrists before holding her up. Odysseus quickly climbed a few feet of fence, and reached up to grip the denim trousers tied around the beam. Hauling himself over the fence with two pulls, he now balanced himself awkwardly between the shingle roof and the fence that kept them caged. He didn’t think any further ahead, all he knew was that he mean’t to escape. He slowly clambered down on the other side of the fence, standing perhaps a dozen meters away from the guards who were playing Sabaac, and they had yet to notice the pantless-escaped-slave. "Your turn, quickly," he harshly whispered to Agnetha.

 

[Agnetha Argead]

Odysseus agreed to unlock the restraints she was bound by, sounding with a click. Agnetha watched as he clambered to the top. Once he got through the bar he seemed to awkwardly hover between freedom at the top and the bars of the cage. He seemed unsure of what to do next, other than to haul her tiny body up to where he stood. He whispered that it was her turn. He stood and watched as she grabbed the jeans and hoisted herself up to where he stood. She was more glad than she had ever been to have such a small frame. It would make the escape easy. She had gone years without being noticed by those around her, perhaps that ability would come in handy for their escape. She thought herself selfish for a moment, that it would only be those two escaping. She looked down at those below, who now looked up at them with pleas etched on their faces. Some of them had been old enough to have their own families. The thought crossed her mind that all of these people were daughters, sons, fathers, mothers and they were damning them to a potential horrible existence. She had no time to dwell on that thought, now. It was time to escape. She turned her eyes away from those who pleaded, towards the shingled roof above them. The thought crossed her mind to reach down and undo the pants from the bars. She handed them to the stranger. She would ask his name later, if they got through this alive.

 

[Odysseus]

With his pants underarm, and the woman at his side, Odysseus was about to jump ship and bail. He followed Agnetha's eyes and saw the slaves, some looked out with mouths agape at the daring escape, others silently worded 'help' on their lips. Odysseus lingered a second too long, deciding whether to run or help, and now it was too late. He heard someone slam down their cards, talking in the Mandalorian tongue, incomprehensible to his ears. They had seen him, and they were quickly unholstering their blasters. He dropped his trousers and ran down the closest street. "Quick!" he roared with adrenaline to his companion. He dove left into the nearest ally, ran the length and turned right onto another street, as empty as the last. Houses lined the road, and Odysseus wasn't sure where to go next. He saw down the road what appeared to be a spacedock.

 

[Agnetha Argead]

Adrenaline coursed it's way through Agnetha's body as she watched the scene before her unfold in slow motion. They had hesitated. It was just a moment too long but it was enough for the Mandalorians to pay attention to the escaping captives. She saw their hands move through the motions of slamming cards upon the table, then moving to their hips towards their blasters. A dull dropping sound could be heard from the background as her companion dropped his pants to the ground. The heavy thud of his footsteps became the only sound tangible from the scene as she followed his movements. He yelled behind to the Hapen to hurry. She sprang into action, embracing every thud as it drove them closer to a potential freedom. Every grain of dirt pressed itself up against her bare feet as they ran down a near slender street and turned onto another. They were all bare despite a few rickety houses that stood along the roads, looking lonely and abandoned, though she knew they weren't. Odysseus seemed to pause for a moment. It was only very slight but Agnetha followed his eyesight. There seemed to be a spacedock down the road. They were a step closer to escaping for good, even if they didn't have the means for a ship. Nor did she know how to pilot one. Fight or flight ran through her head, hopefully they had the flight option. She would steal one if she had to. HEr family had more than enough means to pay it back but for now her necessity over ruled their possession.

 

[Odysseus]

Odysseus shouted, "C'mon, we need to hurry." Red streamers of particle beams raced past him, peppering the ground and spitting up droplets of molten tarmac. His chest rose and fell, heaving in gulps of air as he tried to push himself further onward. Each jarring slam of his foot on the ground sent ripples of exhaustion through his body. He could already feel patches of sweat moisten the rough clothes he wore, or lack-of. He looked behind him, watching the Mandalorians sprinting after him with a lifetime of experience and training, and a half-cocky grin took over his face as he saw his trousers being left behind in a storm cloud of dust. He looked ahead, coming closest to the spacedock entrance, and throwing his shoulder against the door. It exploded inwards, and Odysseus tore through the breach with a fervour unlike anything he had ever known. He darted through the crowd like a trained predator, hopping over ticket installations and quickly sliding under the grasp of a security guard. He didn't even know he had it in him, something within him, something innately instinctual took over, as though he knew what to do, when to do it, and how. He knew this wasn't the Fight or Flight of his species, this was something entirely different, something far more cosmic. He was out on a raised dias, with a beaten up freighter sitting in dock with a handful of Duros scavengers lulling about. He shoved past them, toppling over two and moved up the ramp, not before slamming his fist against the closing mechanism. Agnetha would need to be quick before the ramp rose and closed.

 

[Agnetha Argead]

Agnetha wasn't fair behind the surprisingly fit stranger. She took a moment to peer at him and notice through the haze of events that he was running in front of in only a shirt and underwear. An interesting turn of events. Agnetha followed him through the maze of machines and a security guard. She wasted no time in jumping over the ticket mechanism that stood in their way as they ran. The years of wandering off through the woodlands of Hapes had made her fit and agile. Agnetha used her size to her advantage as the security guard made feeble attempts to nab her. She darted left while he was still reaching towards the right. His bulk weighed him down too much for him to be able to grab her. She sprinted towards the stranger, having now fallen behind enough to make a difference. She saw him standing upon a platform, lunging himself into an old freighter. The Mandalorians were closing on Agnetha. Almost pinching at her feet. She ran for the closing platform, hoping to make it in time. She saw the lights of the freighter disappearing as the ramp raised higher and higher. Agnetha pushed through the pain and exhaustion that threatened to overtake her, hoping for a second wind of power. She pushed herself off, jumping into the gap that was barely large enough to fit her while kneeling.