These Boots Are Made For Crashing!

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Darn those escape boots!!

Like wearing a jetpack on each foot, the escape boots weren't as easy to control as Lori liked. Ever since [member="Kaine Australis"] had given her a pair, she had been trying to perfect flying in them. Heck, she even did some tinkering, trying to rebuild them so that she could perfect the way that they handled in the air. Maybe if they could be used to propel in water, it'd be easier. There was much more drag under water than in the air. Or maybe if she built herself some retractible wings?

Either way, Lori was doing her best, flying at a height of fifty feet on the outskirts of Zakuul City. The area was just at the cusp, where the city meets the swamps. There was less to crash into there, if she happened to lose too much control, most especially buildings.

*cough* *sputter*

"Oh no!!"

The fuel line must have had a pocket of air. One boot hiccuped, going out, leaving her with just one boot to direct herself with, causing her to spiral out of control.

"Oh frak!!!!"

She started to lose altitude, all the while the world spun around her. She didn't see [member="Zrak Ren"] until it was too late, her body slamming into him, causing her right shoulder to dislocate out of it's socket with a POP before she skidded on the ground on her back.

Darn those escape boots!!

 

[Zrak Ren]

What a chore getting into a place like this, he'd had to figure out in advance their defense routes, and flight patterns. That was such work, he was all the hoopla for ground work, that he could handle, ambushes, all that, piece of cake. Getting past space and technology stuff, boy did it frustrate the Shaper. Zrak, as he was now known, had eventually managed it. Close call a few times, but he got into the planet thank goodness. He wore rather typical clothing for an average person, but wore his armor underneath. He'd left his head open, which he didn't like. But as of yet he hadn't nabbed one of those nifty holographic face changers. And wearing a mask around here was so obvious, though he did have the head piece for his armor in a pocket.

The one truly defining characteristic, was his weapon, he'd hidden the main blade itself under his coat in the back, but the staff in his hand wasn't as easy to hide. But as long as he didn't bend to far over, he figured that he'd be fine. Just needed to pay attention.

And that was exactly what he failed to do, as the Shaper found himself crashed into by some kid on jet-boots, ramming into the ground and clonking his head roughly against it. He groaned in pain, he'd heard a pop when they collided, wasn't him though. Well aside from that head. He groaned reaching a hand to the back of his head as he's winced eyes glared over at [member="Loreena Arenais"], "What the crap kid, kriffing, watch where you're going!" he grumbled turning over, man that was a young kid indeed. And...oddly familiar.

He couldn't place it just yet, but it was important, "You good?" he asked. In some way, he was legitimately concerned. Though in his mind, he didn't think he had to be. He gritted his teeth seeing the arm, "Like...with that. I can...fix that." he knew just how bad a dislocated arm could be, and perhaps he could figure out who this kid was while he was doing it.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori lay there on her back for a minute, partly stunned from the crash as well as having her shoulder dislocated. It was like hitting a brick wall, but one that was alive.

Armour. [member="Zrak Ren"] was wearing armour. By the Force she needed to get some of her own before she tried flying with these boots again! Or at the very least a helmet.

Kid? Kid??

"I'm not a kid! I'll have you know that I'm nearly nineteen!" That made her an adult, right? In Mandalorian customs she was more than old enough to not be called a kid. But he didn't look Mandalorian...

Lori sat herself up slowly, cradling her arm as it sat loose outside of it's socket. "I...appreciate the help, thank you." She took in a deep breath, knowing that putting an arm back into the socket is going to hurt much worse than what she was feeling now. Her body tensed up as she prepared herself for it. "I didn't mean to crash into you, by the way. It was an accident. I lost control when the fuel line hiccuped." No doubt she was going to just walk back to her apartment from here. Or at least that's what she was planning to do.

 

[Zrak Ren]

Zrak held up his hands apologetically, ​"Alright alright, geesh." he said shaking his head. Not like he was much older, though he really didn't care too much. He shook his head looking at the arm as she said she'd appreciate and groaned sitting down, looking at it and starting to get into the right position. Her listened to her apology first, "Yeah well, thanks, also...brace yourself, this'll hurt..." he said before pulling, using his legs as leverage against her torso and letting him quickly, but most likely painfully, pull it out far enough to put it back into place like it was supposed to be. Even as he did it he could feel his own head hurting from the welp that likely emerged from slamming agains the ground. Still, it'd be over in just a moment, and he'd release and move back just a bit staying on the ground for a moment and rubbing the back of his head where he felt the lump, "Just be careful next...dosh!"

​The memory suddenly came to him, this wasn't just some girl he'd seen on a video file. This was an enemy to the First Order, a target, and now, his target. After having just fixed her arm, he leapt to his feet, moving the head piece of his Armour-of-ren, a light piece of armor with a Rebreather and Vocal_emulator he'd put under it for convenience. The Saber piece for his Dragon dropped out of his coat into his hand and he held it out in one hand the staff in the other, ​"Don't resist, you're under arrest. Or things could get a little messy." he glanced around quickly to see who else was around, his saber wasn't activated. So he was basically a masked individual holding a vibro-axe in one hand and a staff in the other as far as anyone else could see.

He really could care less what she meant to the First Order. But he was doing his best to make his way among them, and if he could capture this woman, well. That might be just the way to jump up within their ranks. Of course he wanted her alive, that made things much better, but the threat of death was sometimes the easiest way to get these things over with.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori shut her eyes tight as [member="Zrak Ren"] took hold of her arm. She held in her breath and held her other hand in a tight fist. She had gone through worse while she was in fight tournaments, hadn't she? Yeah. Especially in one fight where she had to face her oponent bare handed while he had a shield and sword. She fought well enough to gain a lot of respect that day.

This was different though. As her arm was pulled and then positioned to pop back in, she couldn't help but cry out. A bit of nausea came over her with the pain, but she didn't let it overcome her. Sweat beaded on her brow as she opened her eyes again and cradled her arm. "Yeah I will, just help me make a--"

Her words cut off as he jumped to his feet. Here she was hoping that he'd help her remove her coat so that she could make a sling with it, but he had other plans.

Wincing a little, Lori had to push that all back as she got to her feet, stepping back a bit to give herself more room. "Arrest me? For what? Flying? Did I need a permit?" Of course she knew that was just silly. But she was also biding herself some time. Her quickest escape route was to use her boots again and lose him in the swamp. But she hated them and with her injured arm, it'd make trying to control her flight even harder. "I think that you've got me confused with someone else..."

 

[Zrak Ren]

The girl stood up and as she did he latched the weapon swiftly onto the pole, turning it into a pole-axe or a lightsaber pike if he felt like it. She hadn't seemed to grasp the situation she was in, or, perhaps she was feigning ignorance. He hadn't exactly given a reason for why and in all honesty the only reason he had was that he knew she was an enemy of the First Order,

She did, however step back, and in response, he stepped forwards, but only once, still holding the weapon, just making sure she was close enough that with one strike she'd be within reach. She tried to ask about why, mention confusion, but he was almost certain about who she was, or at least, that she was an enemy, "Enough to know you're an enemy of the First Order, and of political or military relevance. That's all the reason I need. House...something, it doesn't really matter to me who you are, just what you are. Come with me now, and you may not be harmed. Don't, and I'll have to use force."

He was preparing his body to act, whether to try and wrestle [member="Loreena Arenais"] to somewhere he could get a pick up from the First Order, though he was unaware of that fact, or to defend himself from an attack. He wasn't sure yet what to go with. He wasn't some kind of investigator or military police, he was a warrior, a soldier, these things were not his job. He was basically just trying to push his way to it's completion.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

[member="Zrak Ren"] was from the First Order? By the Force why won't they leave this planet alone? And ever since the siege on Commenor, they haven't exactly left her or her planet alone either.

Lori wasn't in much of a position to fight, especially as she was already injured. So she did what she had to do. Looking behind Zrak, she let out a scream and pointed at him. "He tried to kiss me!!!" Of course there was no one there. But the moment he'd go to look, she turned and ran, kicking the Escape boots at the heel so they'd ignite and send her into the air. She didn't go very high though, nor did she want to go far. She kept low enough to not be seen so easily through the swamp. Less than a kilometre away she turned the boots off and landed at a hard run. She winced as the movement hurt her shoulder, but took refuge behind a big mossy tree.

Now to find out if this First Order...was he a Knight of Ren?...find out if he was as stubborn as she was.

 

[Zrak Ren]

"He tried to kiss me!!!"

Shoot. He thought turning his head quickly...nobody was there, he turned around and she was already darting off, he went into a full on sprint as she lifted into the air, he groaned this was getting rough she'd be out of sight in no time like that, "Can't let that happen!" he challenged, his next two steps were heavily aided by the earth beneath him, the ground molding and rocketing up sending the Shaper soaring forwards into the sky further aided by the air. Shaping, earth, and wind, useful techniques. Though in this case, not dissimilar to a force jump.

He used the wind to try and shove himself forwards but he wasn't quite as practiced with it as he was with fire or earth. So it only got him so far, he kept dropping to the ground, shaping it to move up and down with him, cushioning falls, and then launching him back out again, however as he came down, he missed where she'd dropped when he launched back up.

Landing on a tree this time, branches cracking beneath him until he latched onto one, the Dragon in his right with the axe near his hand while the pole went behind his back for balance. He listened, she was out there, but he'd have to figure out where. He dropped back to the ground in a crouch, and begin to move, using the earth to aid him sliding him across it's terrain trying to catch a glimpse or a sound of her somewhere.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori's heart beat fast in her chest, moreso due to her injured shoulder than any cause of panic. As far as she could tell, she lost [member="Zrak Ren"] already. With no footsteps to follow, it'd be all the more difficult for him to try to track her.

She stayed there for a few minutes longer, removing her jacket and with the help of her teeth, managed to create a makeshift sling with it. Carefully Lori slipped her arm innside. At least now her arm wouldn't jostle around so much. At least that was the plan.

Now where to go? Lori went through the map inside her head. Heading east was probably the easier route, but it was also more open. There wasn't a whole lot of fuel left in her boots either, so going back to the city might be wiser. She just needed to walk a wide arc to get there. Moving from the shelter of the tree, Lori looked and listened for any sign of her opponent. It was difficult to tell, yet she knew that she couldn't stay there forever. She'd just have to be on the lookout for footprints and steer clear away from them.

Hopefully luck was on her side.

 

[Zrak Ren]

Zrak groaned in irritation, she'd vanished, alright, fine. Fine. He stopped next to a tree.

"Fine, ok, got one idea." He said aloud, he focused, reaching out, he needed to catch her faster, he couldn't find her based on tracks like he'd want. And with those boots, if she got close enough to civilization, she was almost ensured escape. And since he didn't want to kill her, he'd have to give up if that happened. So he tried to test something.

​He caused the ground to move, in the distance, on the side of the city, trying to make it seem like that's where he was. All the while moving to the opposite side. This was his best chance he felt for trying to catch her. Creating a distraction that moved back and forth from one side to another over long distances.

Hopefully, the long distance wouldn't be so long that she could time her path through without thinking he'd catch up to her. Then it'd just leave him redoing it for awhile while looking around for her on the opposite end. Of course, he had to focus on both looking for her where he was, and keeping up this illusion of sorts that he was on the cities side running back and forth at high speed. His chances weren't good.

"Freaking pointless, I'm not a tracker. This is not my job. Don't know why I'm bothering. No reason to call for help either she'd be either caught or gone by then." He grumbled to himself.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

The sound of the ground moving caught her attention first. The rumbles were low as the rustling of the swamp grass and trees were heard. How the heck was that happening? Lori had never come across a Shaper before. Was it the doing of [member="Zrak Ren"] ? Was this common?

She squinted her eyes to see if maybe she could see him riding on top of it all like a surfer would ride the waves. But no, it was difficult to tell. The guy could be anywhere!

Lori quickened her pace, yet tried to keep her movements slow due to her injured shoulder. She grit her teeth at times when she stumbled, trying to stay clear of the rising ground.

-SHAAAHLONK!!-

One of her Escape boots sunk into the mud and suctioned itself in. "Frig!!" Lori kept her other foot in the air as she looked for a branch of something to dig at the back of the boot and use the pocket of air to release it. But there were no loose branches. At least none close enough. But maybe...

Lori took a wide step with her other foot and it sunk into the mud as well. She then lowered herself and then extended her hand to try to reach for a branch. Like some cruel joke it looked to be about six inches from her fingers. "Come on!!" Lori tried to focus on the Force to make the branch move, yet there was too many things going on in her mind. First was that she had no idea of the whereabouts of her pursuer. Another was that if she tried to ignite the boots, it'd cause the swamp to catch fire and burn for years. Another was that if she fell, she'd have an even more difficult time of trying to get out again.

Lori was in a bad spot and she knew it. The city was probably the better route afterall.

 

[Zrak Ren]

"Kriff." He cursed again, no sign of her yet. He had to keep moving, He tried to move inwards, carefully within the trees to stay hidden hoping he could catch a glimpse of her somewhere. But as he did so, his shaping more and more became difficult to focus on. He could only hold that up for so long. The ability was easy enough, but doing it somewhere else all the while focusing on trying to hide, and look for someone, that was what made things a bit more difficult.

As a result the formation wavered more and more often as he moved inwards. He was getting closer to the woman sure, but he had no clue where or if she was actually still in the forest. He was basically guessing. Still, sooner or later he'd arrive near her location. It was just a matter of time before either he noticed her, or she noticed him, if she didn't get out of the mudpie first.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"COME ON!!" Once more Lori was reaching for the branch, yet still it remained inches away. She didn't care if her voice was heard. Right now she was STUCK! And still in pain from her dislocated shoulder.

The rumbles stopped, the ground had stopped moving. Did [member="Zrak Ren"] give up? Lori stood up straight once more and squinted as she looked through the trees. There he was. His figure was easily noticed. She looked down to her booted feet and frowned. There was no easy way of getting out. She needed his help. The suction created by her boots underneath the mud was too much. Of course she could try to unbuckle her boots and get her feet out, but then she'd lose her boots and could still get herself stuck as she tried to get to firmer land. Making a break for it in stocking feet wasn't exactly ideal either.

Lori sighed and then cupped her hands on either side of her mouth as she called out to her pursuer. "Hey! Over here!"

 

[Zrak Ren]

He heard a shout, his head twitched to the side he thought it came from, listening, his breathing slow, careful. Waiting, and then,

"Hey! Over here!"

that was much louder. He turned his head towards it and quickly rushed off int he direction of the voice, assuming she was calling upon allies.

And yet, when he got there, nobody else was there but him and her, boots in the mud, he cocked his head but had to smile in amusement behind the helmet. He was struggling finding her, and she'd somehow gotten stuck in a mudpit with rocket boots.

"Well well, that's quite the conundrum you got yourself into there?" He said sarcastically, but his eyes, they were busy looking around. Making sure that there was nobody here hiding, waiting to ambush him. He took one hand and moved his legs as if bracing them, and he lifted, unless some reason occurred to prevent it. The mud around her would constrict around her legs, and then rise moving closer to him, intent on keeping her from running away. But rather wanting to avoid somehow drowning her in mud.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Oh she knew that this was coming. She knew that once [member="Zrak Ren"] saw her predicament, he'd probably laugh. Lori waited for it when she saw him cock his head to the side. Yet there was no laughter. Still, she could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke.

What Lori didn't expect was for the mud to further wrap around her legs and move her towards him! Now she couldn't so easily try to slip out of the boots and make a break for it. No. And the danger of igniting the boots and causing them to explode was still very high. Swamp gasses were quite flammable.

"Yes, yes it is. Now be careful or you'll get us both killed! And that wouldn't do you well, now would it?" How much of a smart mouth she could get away with, Lori wasn't sure. But that didn't mean that she wouldn't try to push her boundaries. That was what she did best, afterall.

 

[Zrak Ren]

Zrak raised an eyebrow as she mentioned getting them both killed if he wasn't careful and not being good for either of them. He let out a grunt in response, yeah, narrowing his eyes at [member="Loreena Arenais"] "True, so maybe it would be best if you don't try to escape hm?" he commented twirling the weapon he had in one hand. It was not an angered response, she'd only barely begun to irritate him with a the comment. Really it was the running away that was frustrating beyond belief.

"Let's see," he thought aloud, using the tip of The Dragon to pull at some vines with the backside of it, he walked over them, sliding a hand up to the bladed end while his other hand remained in a fist, helping him focus on the mud around Loreena's legs, so he could cut off some pieces of the vines, he used his foot to push against them testing their strength, and groaning, "I need to bring cuffs with me apparently." he said holding up the shortened pieces now.

He gestured behind her, "No idea if these will hold you or not, let's just pretend they will. The other option of course is you try to run, and I just, blow us up." he said with a chuckle, a little piece of flame flickering out of his mouth but not nearly big enough to ignite something. It was a joke of course, mostly, at least.

​Just needed to get her back to his ship, and then out of here, capturing her would get him quite the attention he imagined.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"You mean that you don't have any on you? What kind of a First Order officer are you? I thought it was standard procedure? Is this your first day or something?" Oh yes, Lori had discovered a way to get her digs in. It was in [member="Zrak Ren"] 's best interest not to kill her and so she took advantage of that.

She refused to put her hands behind her back, however. "You'll have to try to tie my hands up front. I'm not so sure that I could bend my dislocated shoulder back. How about you just figure something else out, hmm?" Lori thought of Zrak tying her to himself. But perhaps that wouldn't make escape so easy.

"What kind of classes did you take in First Order school, anyways? How to Express Yourself Behind a Mask 101?"

 

[Zrak Ren]

Zrak let out a grunt as he narrowed his eyes underneath the mask hearing her criticize his lack of cuffs, and proceed to say she couldn't possibly have her hands tied behind her back because of her dislocated arm. Well that part was fair he supposed. Though it was definitely her fault.

"What kind of classes did you take in First Order school, anyways? How to Express Yourself Behind a Mask 101?"

He let out a chuckle at her final comment, bringing the vines he did have to attempt to tie her hands together using the bets knots he knew while answering the question, "Well you see, when the only people you bring back are always dead, cuffs aren't exactly useful." ​he said with another chuckle. It mostly was just an attempt to scare her, but he really wasn't sure it'd work. Course there was truth in it, but mainly because you just don't give a soldier cuffs. He wasn't an enforcer, an investigator, or a police of any kind. His job was to kill after all.

But trying to tie her hands, especially only in the front, kind of felt...rather a lack of restricting. There had to be some extra way to try and keep her from just running off, he grabbed another longer vine, again testing it's strength and would go to tie it to the other pieces, "I wouldn't advise trying to cut any of this, if I see you fiddling around or something, I could always remove a limb. I may be pretty sure they want you alive, but you don't need to be in one piece." he warned.

"Both of us would like to avoid that." ​That was truthful enough, he'd like to avoid cutting off a woman arm at present. Especially if it wasn't in a combat scenario. She really hadn't actually fought with him and he didn't exactly enjoy severing limbs of women.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Well, she got [member="Zrak Ren"] laughing at least. Still, she wasn't particularly fond of the continuation of her being stuck in the mud.

Lori attempted to try to slide her feet out from the boots while he was fiddling with the vines, but it was no use. The mud that had risen above the rim of the boots made it near impossible. She'd have to get him to lose his focus somehow....

An idea popped into her head. Lori knew that she'd regret it if it failed. As Zrak was nearly finished tying up her wrists, she quickly brought them up and around his head where she then kissed his mask. Of course the quick movement hurt her shoulder a LOT, yet if it worked, it'd be worth it.

And of course afterwards she'll for sure have to wipe her mouth clean!

 

[Zrak Ren]

Just was just finishing tying her wrists when suddenly she brought her hands up, he immediately was getting ready for an attack when he found her kissing his mask! He blinked shocked, and naturally, his control of the mud slipped along with it, falling down to the ground. That was far from what he was expecting today. To be fair, it was far from what he would expect almost any day but especially not from someone he was trying to capture.

"...what." Was the only word that managed to make its way out of his mouth. He was utterly baffled and distracted from the problem at hand.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]