Wicked Witch of Schwartzweld
Lexis Ferran
Distant Future ~ night time, Coruscant
It started out as any normal day. Coruscant, filled with crowed, unsuspecting victims of the young thief. She didn't have to steal anymore but the knowledge that she could brought Lexis content. So she did. Her day had been mapped out. Steal some, stock up her overly-crowded storage, head over to Draclau Enterprises.
That was not how her day played out.
Her speed enhanced by the Force, she slithered through the crowd rapidly, pick-pocketing just as her mentor Ferran had once taught her. One item looped, she stored it in her backpack and moved to the next. And her hand suddenly went through, as if through empty space. Lexis suddenly stopped and looked up at her hand, she could see through it.
The crowds moved through her and she just stood there, looking at her hand, the blur that it was, fading away.
Where is it? Where is it going? Why can't we see it? It's there. It has to be. The voices spoke up in her head. They had been quiet for a while. It had been peaceful in her head. Everything seemed to be peaceful around her for a while now. “What’s happening to me?” She spoke up, to herself, to her voice. And they remained silent. They didn’t have an answer for her.
* * *
Distant future ~ night time, Coruscant
Pressed against the farthest wall of her storage room, the brunet hugged her legs and shook in the darkness. She could see her hand again but her mind blurred, her memories were playing tricks on her. The voice came and went, their voices distorted, changing at times.
She felt alone.
* * *
Distant Future ~ day time, Coruscant
Everything felt different by daybreak. Lexis hadn’t had a shut eye. The images kept changing, disappearing. Her memories felt like they weren't here. Even those she still had, the clearest one, felt like they were just figments of imagination. The voices returned but they were as scared as she was. None of them knew what was happening; none of them could make any sense of what was happening.
Everything was changing.
Present Day, Nar Shaddaa
With a hood over her head, the female walked through the alley of Nar Shaddaa. Everything seemed different here, now. Dark irises scanned through each corner as she moved, studying every inch as she moved. Lexis didn’t trust people in general and this whole place confused her too much. It all seemed like the same at a first glance but it wasn’t. It was foreign.
Ferran, her mentor, once warned her about that. Warned her to blend in every more than usual when she didn’t feel like fitting in. Standing out was always a lot more dangerous. So she hid and moved quietly, not attracting attention. Not even stealing. It was odd for Shana not to.
Turn the corner here. One of her voice spoke and she listened. Between the two, that one always advised her well. The other one was for trouble. But they all loved trouble on a normal day. Turning the corner, she found yet another dark street; random sounds in the distance making her turn and study the darkness for a brief while before continuing. It was gonna going to be a long night.
Chloe Van Derveld
It isn't mine. The memory, it isn't mine.
...And I shouldn't have to carry it.
Twin eyes of gold and blue studied the girl carefully as she walked, her own hood pulled low over spiky blonde black bangs that flanked her angular face. She sat perched on top of a pipe, crouched low, her eyes hooded as her hand kept twirling a vibroshif like a worry stone.
It was her walk that made her stand out; most sentients on Nar Shaddaa had their own style that singled them out toward what sort of end they were going for. This one. There was something about her.
Curiosity was always the devil upon Chloe's shoulders and this was no different.
So with that in mind, with a graceful rise upon thick heeled boots, Chloe jumped from her perch, landing upon the ground in a half kneeling position before slowly rising up, splashing light droplets of water from where her boots had hit the ground.
Blinking once, she tipped her head low, still twirling the blade, as she began to follow the girl...
Lexis Ferran
Lexis kept moving, brown eyes scanning over the walls and the ground. She didn't trust this time. It was too foreign. But nothing really stood out enough to get her on high alert and she moved. Until she heard quiet sound in the back. She stopped, glanced back, her shadowed face focusing on the the path behind her.
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
Just keep walking. Shoot it. No, keep walking. Make up your damn minds. They were divided here. Lexis closed her eyes for a second and continued walking. This whole place was strange, foreign. At least her voices were with her. For now. She didn't know know for long long, they have gone in and out in the last couple of days. She felt them go each time, like a part of her soul was ripped out from her. And she couldn't stop it. Inhaling, she slowly counted in her head and kept walking.
Chloe Van Derveld
It was once my life
...It was my life at one time.
The flash of silver came and went as Chloe kept twirling the shiv in her right hand, her hips rolling with every forward step she took, one boot in front of the other. With her hood pulled low, it was hard to distinguish her features. But she liked it that way.
Her eyes grew a bit wider once the girl gave a glance over her shoulder. She didn't stop. That wasn't her way. Hello there. The voices came then, whispering. Dual colored eyes kept darting over the woman, her curiosity growing with every step she took. There was hesitation there; but at the same time a daring, as if fighting with oneself. A familiarity. Something about her that reminded her of years back, when she first walked through Nar Shaddaa.
Finally, her voice cut through the din of hissing steam pipes and creaking metal.
"You don't belong here." It was clear cut. Blunt observation. But whether that meant belonging in this area, this planet, or in Chloe's case, even this time frame, was up for debate. Either case, she didn't stop walking towards the girl.
Lexis Ferran
Whatever it was that was behind it, followed her. She could feel it now, using the Force like her brother had taught her. Which felt like many years ago even though it hadn't actually happened for him. But she remembered. And she used what he taught her.
Lexis kept moving though. Strangers scared her. Even if the Force didn't scream danger, she kept moving, not poking any deeper. Strangers scared. her.
Then the sounds came through and she froze. She stood there, covered in darkness, as a voice followed the sounds. You don't belong here. The voice aid to her, a female voice.
I'll take care of this, suddenly one of her voice spoke up and Lexis turned on her heal. The Force whispered to her, sweetly. The sensation felt familiar. Shana was much better at the Force than Lexis was. She could read it much much better. And it told her she didn't have to run. There was fun behind the foreign voice. "I don't," she spoke up, the color of her voice seemingly equal to that of Lexis. "Do you?"
Chloe Van Derveld
Look straight ahead, there’s nothing left to see
What’s done is done, this life has got its hold on me
At that, black lashes lowered momentarily, silence becoming a pregnant expectant void until Chloe raised them again. Her vision fixated on the woman. "I don't." she simply stated. No lie. A sudden shift of direction and she then went walking in a half circle around Lexis, the shiv still twirling as she played with it, gaining in speed as the shift in her emotion made her tick worse.
She'd felt the subtle switch on the girl. It was a curious thing. As if her body had suddenly grown more relaxed. A surge of power radiated from her now. Hidden perhaps?
"Who are you?" she asked, jerking her head up to the right, allowing for the dim rays of the overhead light to shine upon the lower half of her face only, revealing the spiky tuffs of blond black hair that protruded from under the hood of her pull over.
Lexis Ferran
She didn't. The youngest of voices had the need to chuckle in her head. It was a small victory, the answer just like theirs. It took her moment to actually want to ask the question that the other Shana was already asking: "Where are you from?" The brown gaze followed the female. She could feel Lexis pulling away in her hand, the closeness making her unpleasant. She didn't move them though, they stayed exactly where they were. Xander taught her well, she never bulked down.
Who was she? Shana stayed quiet for moment, studying the female a little longer before she said. "I'm Shana. Who are you?" Lexis protested. It was a name only a single person used. It was a name she gave out to no one. But the Shana in charge now, accepted no other name but her own. She was just careful enough not to hand out her last name, not in this time.
Chloe Van Derveld
No one else sees, but I got stuck
...and soon forever came.
It was as if the girl had peeled her skin and entered another. Her whole attitude was different. It amused Chloe. Her brow rose, her expression a blank save for the faint upward slant of the right side of her mouth.
"A far off place," she said, vague but truth, placing one foot against the other as she stopped her half circling and instead cut against the radius towards the girl. That shiv in her hand kept spinning, and spinning faster by the second as her fingers expertly twirled it.
"Chloe," she said simply, coming to a stop just shy of three feet from Lexis, just under a ray of dull yellow white light, revealing her features. Thick liner lined her almond shaped eyes, who's dual color were a striking shade of blue and a brilliant gold. Inky black script carved over her neck, her features a bit angular. Still wearing that curious faint smile, those perceptive eyes gave Lexis another once over, before she spoke," Who else are you?" it was a dare. A game.
So game on.
Lexis Ferran
A far off place. That wasn't very specific. But neither was her answer. Little Shana and Lexis both frowned in her her head. They liked getting real answers to her questions. Was to answer? Which made it a good thing that this particular Shana was much better with people. She didn't however miss the girl stop and move closer, dangerously approaching what Shana saw as her personal space. She said nothing of it though because she realized this gave her a chance to see the girl better.
Chloe, as she now knew the girls name, seemed quite peculiar to her. What does peculiar mean? Of course Lexis would be the one to ask. Not now. I'll tell you later.With that brief interruption avoided, Shana blinked and focused on Chloe again. Something had already caught her attention before Lexis interrupted.
She had funny hair, eyes that weren't one color and writtings on her neck. Shana wouldn't have thought of just one thing, Chloe was interesting all together. "Cura!" But Lexis didn't miss the gold in one eye. It was impossible for her. Suddenly armed with the familiarity of the eyes, she moved close to Chloe.
"You have gold in your eye like my friend Cura. Do you know Cura? I miss her, she's fun!" It was true, she missed her. They didn't start off good, Lexis finding her inner jealousy over her big brother. And he really chose bad words to describe the redhead which he understood as being to replacement to Cura. She did not like that. Not at all. But as it turned out, they did have TONS in common and it was, as some holo-movie once said - the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
But her thoughts didn't stay on Cura long because Chloe asked who else she was. Lexis blinked. Then stared at Chloe. Then blinked one more time. She knows?! Sure seems that way. You want me to take over again, Lexis? Just shoot her!! No! She has gold like Cura. She might know Cura. I miss Cura. I've never met anyone else with gold in their eyes. Yeah, Cura was fun. But this isn't Cura. Cura can't change like we do. So it's not Cura. Let's shoot her! That's enough. Both of you. The girl is waiting for an answer. Wow, sometimes, these convos were tiring. Entire conversations. But it made Lexis feel a lot less lonely than she would have been in this time. In all that time, Lexis never looked at from Chloe. She didn't think about what to say and before she actually could, little Shana jumped in."We're us. We're me. Who else would we be?" And it made perfect send to her, what she said.
Jonathon Patches
Well it's a one, two, three,
Take my hand and come with me,
Because you look so fine,
That I really want to make you mine.
Humming to himself while walking down the street with a bit of a swagger, he'd be whistling in triumph right now if the galaxy hadn't been so cruel as to make the childish skill unavailable to him. While Patches had never actually taken candy from a baby, he imagined the baby would have put up more of a fight than his latest mark. Walking down the street, prized datapad in his breast pocket that his mark - let's call him Mr. Underhill for the purposes of this story - probably wouldn't be missed until long after Patches had put Nar Shaddaa in the Helm's backwash. At least, that was part of Patches plan; unfortunately for him, things never seemed to go according to plan.
The all to familiar sensation of a blaster barrel being pressed into the small of his back caught his attention, and caused the swagger in which he had previously been walking turn to more of a stutter step, and a bit of surprise.
"Don't move," said the voice from behind, in a not so friendly tone. More of a menacing one, as matter of fact, he mused to himself.
"Really? In the street like this? Too many witnesses," quipped Patches from the side of his mouth, not turning his head to his would be attacker from behind. The question seemed to cause pause in the mystery man, as he clearly took a few moments to muster a response.
"Move..." was the only response he heard from behind, as the blaster barrel in his back was clearly steering Patches into an alley.
While Jonathon's legs began moving slowly, he couldn't resist "well aren't you walking contradiction... don't move, move... pick one and stick with it," he said, his tone clearly amused and not showing any hint of alarm; which further put off Patches captor. A sharp knee to the back of Jonathon's knee caused him to studder a bit, and served as a reminder that the man with the blaster was holding all the cards... at least for now.
As they neared the alley, Patches came across two women who seemed to be having a rather odd conversation; their questions and responses seemed to have some sort of word limit, and they liked to keep those responses to four words or less for the most part. In Patches experience, this was not a typical conversation two women would have, even those that may not be on friendly terms with one and other. In fact, he had a theory that the longer the sentences between two women, the less they liked each other. Now, he had no proof of this theory, nor had he actually conducted any experiments or research, but it was a theory of his none-the-less.
So with the alley fast approaching, where Patches would almost certainly meet his demise - especially if caught red handed with the datapad in his pocket - he was left with few other options but to act fast.
"Is that your blaster in my back... or are you just happy to see me?" he quipped back to his captor, which almost on cue, resulted in another swift kick to back of his leg; only this time, Jonathon fell to one knee by one of the women. "Sorry," he merely stated to them, as he used one of their arms to pull himself up without asking, dusting himself off casually, he merely nodded to them, "!%@! feet have a mind of their own sometimes," he said.
Now on his feet again, blaster firmly planted in his back, he made his way to the alley; only this time, there would be no datapad found in his breast pocket. He suspected his soon to be attacker would much rather enjoy searching the women whom Patches had just planted it on, rather than himself; but Jonathon wasn't going to give him the time. As they veered into the alley, the mystery man merely stated, "against the wall," to which Patches obliged; though clearly not to the man's satisfaction, as a little extra shove apparently was necessary.
"Huh... can't say I've ever been the one up against the wall," he quipped with a grin, as he felt the man begin to pat them down, "in my experience, the ladies enjoy it more than us," he said, as he felt his wandering hands search the pockets of his jacket.
'fraid not, kind sir.
As the blaster in his back slackened as a result of the search - a rookie mistake - a simple bending of his knee resulted in swift kick from behind, connecting with the attackers shin. A simple spin of the heels, and Jonathon already had the man's hand that held the blaster grasped with his lift as an errant shot went skyward, while Jonathon's right fist connected with the bridge of his nose. The blaster fell from both of their grips and hit the alley's pavement, as the man grasped his nose with both hands; Jonathon finally getting a good look at him. He was a big... big man... and after stuttering a few steps back, the man lowered his hands from his face, and formed fists, glaring at Patches.
Uh oh... I don't think this is the kind of man you want to piss off, he mused to himself.
From the outside of the alley, a number of grunts, groans and yelps could be heard - not uncommon around these parts of Nar Shaddaa - as the two quarreled, just beyond the eyes of any spectators unless they entered the alley.
I tell ya, I've fought tougher men,
But I really can't remember when,
He kicked like a tauntaun and he bit like a trandoshan.
I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,
He went for his gun and I pulled mine first...
A few moments later, Patches exited the alley, his hair disheveled, pants slightly muddied and short of breath, but emerge from that alley he did, scanning the streets.
Now... where is my datapad, he mused, fixing his hair.
Chloe Van Derveld
Cause I'm just a little girl you see
But there's a hell of a lot more to me.
Both eyes went wide at the mention of 'Cura.' Then again, there are many references that could be to. Chloe blinked once, and would have said something were it not for the sudden passing arrival of a man being 'urged' to go into another alley. He'd stumbled for a moment, falling beside Lexis.
Chloe ignored him, continuing to hold her stare upon the woman. "How do you know Cura?" she asked, then following up the question with, "Anyone. Everyone. " she simply replied in turn, her gaze flickering up to Lexis. "That's who you could be."
By then, that's when the small commotion had been heard behind them. Chloe gave a glance over her shoulder, her hand still spinning that shiv -- she had a feeling something was going to happen. Soon.
Lexis Ferran
How did she know Cura? Lexis opened her mouth to close them when she heard voice behind them. She didn't get a chance to turn around though, when a hand grabbed hers, a figure kneeling beside her. She snapped her head to the side and before she got a chance to pull back, she felt something heavy to her side. Her hand instantly went to her gun, her slughthrower coming out, her phobia manifesting. Safety was off within a second but before she actually got it out on plain sight, the man was moving ahead.
Her trigger finger twitched as the brown gaze followed the two figures moved forward. Chloe's words flew through her head. If it wasn't for Shana, she never would have registered them at all. Lexis. She asked you how you know Cura, she pointed out, making the brunette snap her head back to the girl. She made a step back, her mind focused on the violation that had been done to her a moment ago.
"She... I... she was raised... by my brother. She's my.. friend. I... can't...," Lexis made out the words, almost incoherently. Her voice began to gently soothe her with humming but it didn't work all that well. Chloe said something else. Her eyes narrowed slightly. Anyone. Everyone. That was who she could be. "I'm me. That's who I am. I've always been me. And before that I wasn't..." She remembered a time and then there was a time when she didn't remember. Seth told her a bit but it was hardly enough. And she couldn't remember what he actually said right now. It all just came out as something, something in her head right now. Lexis might have been looking at Chloe right now but she didn't really see her, even if she was listening to her now.
"I'm just...," she started, before her brain remembered something, her free hand, not holding her slugthrower, went through her sides and pockets, finally pulling out what seemed to be a datapad. "When did...?"
Jonathon Patches
Shortly after having exited the alley, he caught glance of the two woman he had run into minutes prior. Patches grinned sheepishly as his ruse had been discovered, as the one woman pulled out his datapad from her pocket with a rather perplexed look on his face. Straightening his shirt and jacket to the best of his ability, he quickly ran his fingers through his hair in an effort to clean up his appearance as best as one could.
The back of his hand caught the corner of his lip, wiping a stray droplet of blood from the corner of his mouth. He caught a glance of himself in a shops window, and let out a sigh... my shirt, he mused. His shoulders slumped slightly, as he came to the conclusion there was little more he could do.
Taking a few steps towards the young women, his right hand and index finger raised in the air slightly as he spoke, "Ah... sorry to interject young misses, but that would be mine," he said, nodding to the datapad one of them held in their hand. Shrugging sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head for a moment, "I am always losing the @+%# thing," he added in a casual manner.
His right index finger pointed at the datapad again, and back to himself as he asked "Might I have that back now, young miss?"
Chloe Van Derveld
Chloe's expression remained blank, her head tilting just off to the right as she stared passively at the man, her attention now fixated on him. At least, until Lexis pulled out the datapad in confusion. Then, without a word, she merely plucked the datapad from the girl's hand. Without further ado, she studied it for a moment, before a downward press of her thumb brought it to life.
Clear light finally shone upon the youthful angular visage of Chloe Van Derveld, as she set about slicing into the datapad as bold as you please, in front of them both.
Lexis Ferran
She heard his voice again and the gun went at shoulder length, aimed at the man. Her focus on him missed what Chloe was doing and the datapad suddenly vanished from her hand. "Hey, that's mine!" In a simple, finder's keepers concept by which Lexis very much lived, it was hers. Still, her attention remained on the one that upset her. "No." A simple answer. He couldn't have it back. Chloe was doing something to it. Not that she would get very far with it but she still wished the brunette would finish whatever she was doing so she could take it back.
"Who are you?" She asked the man though, her slugthrower still at shoulder length, aimed at him. In her head she counted, she didn't like to wait long for answers.
Jonathon Patches
Patches raised his hands slowly in the air, this of course not being the first time a weapon was pointed in his direction. As the other one snatched his datapad, and began stroking the keys aimlessly, Patches attention returned to the one pointing the slug-thrower at him for the time being.
Judging by the way she wielded that blaster, he got the impression that she didn't like to wait long for answers, so he mustered a quick "Jonathon..." in response, before adding calmly as he slowly used one of his raised hands to point at the datapad the short haired one wielded "the rightful owner of that datapad there."
Ok... it wasn't his most honest statement of the day...
Chloe Van Derveld
Chloe wasn't stroking the keys aimlessly. She was verifying what made and model the datapad was. Without further ado, she drew a small tiny device from her belt, clipping it just on top of the datapad. Being from the future had it's perks. Like nearly seventy decades worth of advanced tech that could easily slice into such silly things as older generation datapads.
Decrypting code strung in vibrant green vertical strands of what would be near senseless sigils across the display; but to Chloe, it was something altogether different. Without blinking, she merely stated with a near stoic tone, her dual coloured gaze fixated upon the datascreen in front of her, "Truth and lie."
It was the tiniest flutters of his biosystem that gave her that tiny bit of an edge, but not enough to discern which of his statement was true or not. Honestly, she didn't care. What she hold her interest was the datapad -- and it's contents.
Lexis Ferran
The guy raised his hands like she'd seen people do often when a slugthrower was aimed at them. Jonathon. That doesn't tell me who he is. People make up names. We did. "Hi, Jonathon!" Hey, she got a name, she had some manners. Kinda. The slugthrower was still aimed at him. She didn't trust him. And apparently he was the rightful owner of the datapad.
Lexis didn't look away from him but she listened to Chloe as she gave a simple statement. Truth and Lie. "What's true and what is a lie?" Shana asked plainly, the switch happening in a blink of an eye.
Jonathon Patches
[SIZE=11.818181991577148px]"[/SIZE]Truth and lie.[SIZE=11.818181991577148px]"[/SIZE]
I don't like her, he mused to himself, hands still reaching for the sky as the slugthrower aimed at him did not appear to be going anywhere, anytime soon. Then, he noticed her pull out some fancy device - it's origins unknown - and begin playing with his datapad. MY datapad, he mused.
His head tiled to the side slightly, watching the strange device break through firewall after encryption on the device; something that he had certainly intended on doing as well, though certainly not in as quick a manner. His head snapped to the attention of slugthrower wielding woman as she startled him with a rather jovial rendition of his name.
"Uh.... hi," he managed, soon finding the truth of his previous statement coming into question. What is going on here? he thought to himself, not quite sure.
"I uh.... might have been exaggerating the ownership of that their datapad," he said, nodding to little miss slicer, before he added "Let's just say it's a recent acquisition."
"And you are?" he asked to both women, watching the contents of his 'recently acquired' datapad be sliced unmercifully.
Chloe Van Derveld
"He spouts truths and lies." Chloe clarified for Lexis, but again, her focus was upon the datapad. Across the screen of the tiny devices, a series of lights slowly came on across a horizontal line to relay it's progress. Of course, being an older model datapad, it flickered through all five lights fairly quickly.
"Imperial," she said, recognizing the first files of data as the Imperial emblem bloomed on the displays background. Her thumb lightly flipped through the various screens as she passively blinked. The more she read the information, the more confused she became. That's when she glanced up at Jonathon.
"This isn't supposed to be here."
Lexis Ferran
His story changed. Now he claimed to be exaggerating the ownership of the datapad. What does exeggerating mean? Lexis asked. Means he's lying, Shana answered her short and sweet, without much information. It did eventually come to that and explaining it too long to Lexis would just mean she'd lose interest. A recent acquisition. "Don't lie to me," Shana said, still hearing Chloe to her side. Her finger braced over the safety to make sure it was off and pointed the gun a little higher and the barrel now directly faced the man's throat. "I don't like lies. Don't lie to me." Sure, people could lie all they wanted to the rest of the galaxy but she liked truth to her questions.
Imperial, Chloe finally got her an answer. "Was that too hard, Jonathon? You could have just said so." She was a thief, stolen goods didn't really matter to her. Finders keepers was what she believed in but original owners were irrelevant. But lies were a far bigger sin to her.
She redrew her weapon, she put the safety back on and let her hand fall to the side. She'd still shoot the man if he tried anything like the stunt before, she was a quick one, he didn't have to test her. But now the datapad held her interest. Moving over to Chloe, she looked down on the string of data formed on the screen. She recognized none of them, other that they were supposed to be letters of the alphabet from which she could barely name a few. "What are you gonna do with this?" Lexis asked Jonathan again, her brown gaze shifting back to him.
Distant Future ~ night time, Coruscant
It started out as any normal day. Coruscant, filled with crowed, unsuspecting victims of the young thief. She didn't have to steal anymore but the knowledge that she could brought Lexis content. So she did. Her day had been mapped out. Steal some, stock up her overly-crowded storage, head over to Draclau Enterprises.
That was not how her day played out.
Her speed enhanced by the Force, she slithered through the crowd rapidly, pick-pocketing just as her mentor Ferran had once taught her. One item looped, she stored it in her backpack and moved to the next. And her hand suddenly went through, as if through empty space. Lexis suddenly stopped and looked up at her hand, she could see through it.
The crowds moved through her and she just stood there, looking at her hand, the blur that it was, fading away.
Where is it? Where is it going? Why can't we see it? It's there. It has to be. The voices spoke up in her head. They had been quiet for a while. It had been peaceful in her head. Everything seemed to be peaceful around her for a while now. “What’s happening to me?” She spoke up, to herself, to her voice. And they remained silent. They didn’t have an answer for her.
* * *
Distant future ~ night time, Coruscant
Pressed against the farthest wall of her storage room, the brunet hugged her legs and shook in the darkness. She could see her hand again but her mind blurred, her memories were playing tricks on her. The voice came and went, their voices distorted, changing at times.
She felt alone.
* * *
Distant Future ~ day time, Coruscant
Everything felt different by daybreak. Lexis hadn’t had a shut eye. The images kept changing, disappearing. Her memories felt like they weren't here. Even those she still had, the clearest one, felt like they were just figments of imagination. The voices returned but they were as scared as she was. None of them knew what was happening; none of them could make any sense of what was happening.
Everything was changing.
To be continued...
* * *
Present Day, Nar Shaddaa
With a hood over her head, the female walked through the alley of Nar Shaddaa. Everything seemed different here, now. Dark irises scanned through each corner as she moved, studying every inch as she moved. Lexis didn’t trust people in general and this whole place confused her too much. It all seemed like the same at a first glance but it wasn’t. It was foreign.
Ferran, her mentor, once warned her about that. Warned her to blend in every more than usual when she didn’t feel like fitting in. Standing out was always a lot more dangerous. So she hid and moved quietly, not attracting attention. Not even stealing. It was odd for Shana not to.
Turn the corner here. One of her voice spoke and she listened. Between the two, that one always advised her well. The other one was for trouble. But they all loved trouble on a normal day. Turning the corner, she found yet another dark street; random sounds in the distance making her turn and study the darkness for a brief while before continuing. It was gonna going to be a long night.
Chloe Van Derveld
It isn't mine. The memory, it isn't mine.
...And I shouldn't have to carry it.
Twin eyes of gold and blue studied the girl carefully as she walked, her own hood pulled low over spiky blonde black bangs that flanked her angular face. She sat perched on top of a pipe, crouched low, her eyes hooded as her hand kept twirling a vibroshif like a worry stone.
It was her walk that made her stand out; most sentients on Nar Shaddaa had their own style that singled them out toward what sort of end they were going for. This one. There was something about her.
Curiosity was always the devil upon Chloe's shoulders and this was no different.
So with that in mind, with a graceful rise upon thick heeled boots, Chloe jumped from her perch, landing upon the ground in a half kneeling position before slowly rising up, splashing light droplets of water from where her boots had hit the ground.
Blinking once, she tipped her head low, still twirling the blade, as she began to follow the girl...
Lexis Ferran
Lexis kept moving, brown eyes scanning over the walls and the ground. She didn't trust this time. It was too foreign. But nothing really stood out enough to get her on high alert and she moved. Until she heard quiet sound in the back. She stopped, glanced back, her shadowed face focusing on the the path behind her.
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
Just keep walking. Shoot it. No, keep walking. Make up your damn minds. They were divided here. Lexis closed her eyes for a second and continued walking. This whole place was strange, foreign. At least her voices were with her. For now. She didn't know know for long long, they have gone in and out in the last couple of days. She felt them go each time, like a part of her soul was ripped out from her. And she couldn't stop it. Inhaling, she slowly counted in her head and kept walking.
Chloe Van Derveld
It was once my life
...It was my life at one time.
The flash of silver came and went as Chloe kept twirling the shiv in her right hand, her hips rolling with every forward step she took, one boot in front of the other. With her hood pulled low, it was hard to distinguish her features. But she liked it that way.
Her eyes grew a bit wider once the girl gave a glance over her shoulder. She didn't stop. That wasn't her way. Hello there. The voices came then, whispering. Dual colored eyes kept darting over the woman, her curiosity growing with every step she took. There was hesitation there; but at the same time a daring, as if fighting with oneself. A familiarity. Something about her that reminded her of years back, when she first walked through Nar Shaddaa.
Finally, her voice cut through the din of hissing steam pipes and creaking metal.
"You don't belong here." It was clear cut. Blunt observation. But whether that meant belonging in this area, this planet, or in Chloe's case, even this time frame, was up for debate. Either case, she didn't stop walking towards the girl.
Lexis Ferran
Whatever it was that was behind it, followed her. She could feel it now, using the Force like her brother had taught her. Which felt like many years ago even though it hadn't actually happened for him. But she remembered. And she used what he taught her.
Lexis kept moving though. Strangers scared her. Even if the Force didn't scream danger, she kept moving, not poking any deeper. Strangers scared. her.
Then the sounds came through and she froze. She stood there, covered in darkness, as a voice followed the sounds. You don't belong here. The voice aid to her, a female voice.
I'll take care of this, suddenly one of her voice spoke up and Lexis turned on her heal. The Force whispered to her, sweetly. The sensation felt familiar. Shana was much better at the Force than Lexis was. She could read it much much better. And it told her she didn't have to run. There was fun behind the foreign voice. "I don't," she spoke up, the color of her voice seemingly equal to that of Lexis. "Do you?"
Chloe Van Derveld
Look straight ahead, there’s nothing left to see
What’s done is done, this life has got its hold on me
At that, black lashes lowered momentarily, silence becoming a pregnant expectant void until Chloe raised them again. Her vision fixated on the woman. "I don't." she simply stated. No lie. A sudden shift of direction and she then went walking in a half circle around Lexis, the shiv still twirling as she played with it, gaining in speed as the shift in her emotion made her tick worse.
She'd felt the subtle switch on the girl. It was a curious thing. As if her body had suddenly grown more relaxed. A surge of power radiated from her now. Hidden perhaps?
"Who are you?" she asked, jerking her head up to the right, allowing for the dim rays of the overhead light to shine upon the lower half of her face only, revealing the spiky tuffs of blond black hair that protruded from under the hood of her pull over.
Lexis Ferran
She didn't. The youngest of voices had the need to chuckle in her head. It was a small victory, the answer just like theirs. It took her moment to actually want to ask the question that the other Shana was already asking: "Where are you from?" The brown gaze followed the female. She could feel Lexis pulling away in her hand, the closeness making her unpleasant. She didn't move them though, they stayed exactly where they were. Xander taught her well, she never bulked down.
Who was she? Shana stayed quiet for moment, studying the female a little longer before she said. "I'm Shana. Who are you?" Lexis protested. It was a name only a single person used. It was a name she gave out to no one. But the Shana in charge now, accepted no other name but her own. She was just careful enough not to hand out her last name, not in this time.
Chloe Van Derveld
No one else sees, but I got stuck
...and soon forever came.
It was as if the girl had peeled her skin and entered another. Her whole attitude was different. It amused Chloe. Her brow rose, her expression a blank save for the faint upward slant of the right side of her mouth.
"A far off place," she said, vague but truth, placing one foot against the other as she stopped her half circling and instead cut against the radius towards the girl. That shiv in her hand kept spinning, and spinning faster by the second as her fingers expertly twirled it.
"Chloe," she said simply, coming to a stop just shy of three feet from Lexis, just under a ray of dull yellow white light, revealing her features. Thick liner lined her almond shaped eyes, who's dual color were a striking shade of blue and a brilliant gold. Inky black script carved over her neck, her features a bit angular. Still wearing that curious faint smile, those perceptive eyes gave Lexis another once over, before she spoke," Who else are you?" it was a dare. A game.
So game on.
Lexis Ferran
A far off place. That wasn't very specific. But neither was her answer. Little Shana and Lexis both frowned in her her head. They liked getting real answers to her questions. Was to answer? Which made it a good thing that this particular Shana was much better with people. She didn't however miss the girl stop and move closer, dangerously approaching what Shana saw as her personal space. She said nothing of it though because she realized this gave her a chance to see the girl better.
Chloe, as she now knew the girls name, seemed quite peculiar to her. What does peculiar mean? Of course Lexis would be the one to ask. Not now. I'll tell you later.With that brief interruption avoided, Shana blinked and focused on Chloe again. Something had already caught her attention before Lexis interrupted.
She had funny hair, eyes that weren't one color and writtings on her neck. Shana wouldn't have thought of just one thing, Chloe was interesting all together. "Cura!" But Lexis didn't miss the gold in one eye. It was impossible for her. Suddenly armed with the familiarity of the eyes, she moved close to Chloe.
"You have gold in your eye like my friend Cura. Do you know Cura? I miss her, she's fun!" It was true, she missed her. They didn't start off good, Lexis finding her inner jealousy over her big brother. And he really chose bad words to describe the redhead which he understood as being to replacement to Cura. She did not like that. Not at all. But as it turned out, they did have TONS in common and it was, as some holo-movie once said - the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
But her thoughts didn't stay on Cura long because Chloe asked who else she was. Lexis blinked. Then stared at Chloe. Then blinked one more time. She knows?! Sure seems that way. You want me to take over again, Lexis? Just shoot her!! No! She has gold like Cura. She might know Cura. I miss Cura. I've never met anyone else with gold in their eyes. Yeah, Cura was fun. But this isn't Cura. Cura can't change like we do. So it's not Cura. Let's shoot her! That's enough. Both of you. The girl is waiting for an answer. Wow, sometimes, these convos were tiring. Entire conversations. But it made Lexis feel a lot less lonely than she would have been in this time. In all that time, Lexis never looked at from Chloe. She didn't think about what to say and before she actually could, little Shana jumped in."We're us. We're me. Who else would we be?" And it made perfect send to her, what she said.
Jonathon Patches
Well it's a one, two, three,
Take my hand and come with me,
Because you look so fine,
That I really want to make you mine.
Humming to himself while walking down the street with a bit of a swagger, he'd be whistling in triumph right now if the galaxy hadn't been so cruel as to make the childish skill unavailable to him. While Patches had never actually taken candy from a baby, he imagined the baby would have put up more of a fight than his latest mark. Walking down the street, prized datapad in his breast pocket that his mark - let's call him Mr. Underhill for the purposes of this story - probably wouldn't be missed until long after Patches had put Nar Shaddaa in the Helm's backwash. At least, that was part of Patches plan; unfortunately for him, things never seemed to go according to plan.
The all to familiar sensation of a blaster barrel being pressed into the small of his back caught his attention, and caused the swagger in which he had previously been walking turn to more of a stutter step, and a bit of surprise.
"Don't move," said the voice from behind, in a not so friendly tone. More of a menacing one, as matter of fact, he mused to himself.
"Really? In the street like this? Too many witnesses," quipped Patches from the side of his mouth, not turning his head to his would be attacker from behind. The question seemed to cause pause in the mystery man, as he clearly took a few moments to muster a response.
"Move..." was the only response he heard from behind, as the blaster barrel in his back was clearly steering Patches into an alley.
While Jonathon's legs began moving slowly, he couldn't resist "well aren't you walking contradiction... don't move, move... pick one and stick with it," he said, his tone clearly amused and not showing any hint of alarm; which further put off Patches captor. A sharp knee to the back of Jonathon's knee caused him to studder a bit, and served as a reminder that the man with the blaster was holding all the cards... at least for now.
As they neared the alley, Patches came across two women who seemed to be having a rather odd conversation; their questions and responses seemed to have some sort of word limit, and they liked to keep those responses to four words or less for the most part. In Patches experience, this was not a typical conversation two women would have, even those that may not be on friendly terms with one and other. In fact, he had a theory that the longer the sentences between two women, the less they liked each other. Now, he had no proof of this theory, nor had he actually conducted any experiments or research, but it was a theory of his none-the-less.
So with the alley fast approaching, where Patches would almost certainly meet his demise - especially if caught red handed with the datapad in his pocket - he was left with few other options but to act fast.
"Is that your blaster in my back... or are you just happy to see me?" he quipped back to his captor, which almost on cue, resulted in another swift kick to back of his leg; only this time, Jonathon fell to one knee by one of the women. "Sorry," he merely stated to them, as he used one of their arms to pull himself up without asking, dusting himself off casually, he merely nodded to them, "!%@! feet have a mind of their own sometimes," he said.
Now on his feet again, blaster firmly planted in his back, he made his way to the alley; only this time, there would be no datapad found in his breast pocket. He suspected his soon to be attacker would much rather enjoy searching the women whom Patches had just planted it on, rather than himself; but Jonathon wasn't going to give him the time. As they veered into the alley, the mystery man merely stated, "against the wall," to which Patches obliged; though clearly not to the man's satisfaction, as a little extra shove apparently was necessary.
"Huh... can't say I've ever been the one up against the wall," he quipped with a grin, as he felt the man begin to pat them down, "in my experience, the ladies enjoy it more than us," he said, as he felt his wandering hands search the pockets of his jacket.
'fraid not, kind sir.
As the blaster in his back slackened as a result of the search - a rookie mistake - a simple bending of his knee resulted in swift kick from behind, connecting with the attackers shin. A simple spin of the heels, and Jonathon already had the man's hand that held the blaster grasped with his lift as an errant shot went skyward, while Jonathon's right fist connected with the bridge of his nose. The blaster fell from both of their grips and hit the alley's pavement, as the man grasped his nose with both hands; Jonathon finally getting a good look at him. He was a big... big man... and after stuttering a few steps back, the man lowered his hands from his face, and formed fists, glaring at Patches.
Uh oh... I don't think this is the kind of man you want to piss off, he mused to himself.
From the outside of the alley, a number of grunts, groans and yelps could be heard - not uncommon around these parts of Nar Shaddaa - as the two quarreled, just beyond the eyes of any spectators unless they entered the alley.
I tell ya, I've fought tougher men,
But I really can't remember when,
He kicked like a tauntaun and he bit like a trandoshan.
I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,
He went for his gun and I pulled mine first...
A few moments later, Patches exited the alley, his hair disheveled, pants slightly muddied and short of breath, but emerge from that alley he did, scanning the streets.
Now... where is my datapad, he mused, fixing his hair.
Chloe Van Derveld
Cause I'm just a little girl you see
But there's a hell of a lot more to me.
Both eyes went wide at the mention of 'Cura.' Then again, there are many references that could be to. Chloe blinked once, and would have said something were it not for the sudden passing arrival of a man being 'urged' to go into another alley. He'd stumbled for a moment, falling beside Lexis.
Chloe ignored him, continuing to hold her stare upon the woman. "How do you know Cura?" she asked, then following up the question with, "Anyone. Everyone. " she simply replied in turn, her gaze flickering up to Lexis. "That's who you could be."
By then, that's when the small commotion had been heard behind them. Chloe gave a glance over her shoulder, her hand still spinning that shiv -- she had a feeling something was going to happen. Soon.
Lexis Ferran
How did she know Cura? Lexis opened her mouth to close them when she heard voice behind them. She didn't get a chance to turn around though, when a hand grabbed hers, a figure kneeling beside her. She snapped her head to the side and before she got a chance to pull back, she felt something heavy to her side. Her hand instantly went to her gun, her slughthrower coming out, her phobia manifesting. Safety was off within a second but before she actually got it out on plain sight, the man was moving ahead.
Her trigger finger twitched as the brown gaze followed the two figures moved forward. Chloe's words flew through her head. If it wasn't for Shana, she never would have registered them at all. Lexis. She asked you how you know Cura, she pointed out, making the brunette snap her head back to the girl. She made a step back, her mind focused on the violation that had been done to her a moment ago.
"She... I... she was raised... by my brother. She's my.. friend. I... can't...," Lexis made out the words, almost incoherently. Her voice began to gently soothe her with humming but it didn't work all that well. Chloe said something else. Her eyes narrowed slightly. Anyone. Everyone. That was who she could be. "I'm me. That's who I am. I've always been me. And before that I wasn't..." She remembered a time and then there was a time when she didn't remember. Seth told her a bit but it was hardly enough. And she couldn't remember what he actually said right now. It all just came out as something, something in her head right now. Lexis might have been looking at Chloe right now but she didn't really see her, even if she was listening to her now.
"I'm just...," she started, before her brain remembered something, her free hand, not holding her slugthrower, went through her sides and pockets, finally pulling out what seemed to be a datapad. "When did...?"
Jonathon Patches
Shortly after having exited the alley, he caught glance of the two woman he had run into minutes prior. Patches grinned sheepishly as his ruse had been discovered, as the one woman pulled out his datapad from her pocket with a rather perplexed look on his face. Straightening his shirt and jacket to the best of his ability, he quickly ran his fingers through his hair in an effort to clean up his appearance as best as one could.
The back of his hand caught the corner of his lip, wiping a stray droplet of blood from the corner of his mouth. He caught a glance of himself in a shops window, and let out a sigh... my shirt, he mused. His shoulders slumped slightly, as he came to the conclusion there was little more he could do.
Taking a few steps towards the young women, his right hand and index finger raised in the air slightly as he spoke, "Ah... sorry to interject young misses, but that would be mine," he said, nodding to the datapad one of them held in their hand. Shrugging sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head for a moment, "I am always losing the @+%# thing," he added in a casual manner.
His right index finger pointed at the datapad again, and back to himself as he asked "Might I have that back now, young miss?"
Chloe Van Derveld
Chloe's expression remained blank, her head tilting just off to the right as she stared passively at the man, her attention now fixated on him. At least, until Lexis pulled out the datapad in confusion. Then, without a word, she merely plucked the datapad from the girl's hand. Without further ado, she studied it for a moment, before a downward press of her thumb brought it to life.
Clear light finally shone upon the youthful angular visage of Chloe Van Derveld, as she set about slicing into the datapad as bold as you please, in front of them both.
Lexis Ferran
She heard his voice again and the gun went at shoulder length, aimed at the man. Her focus on him missed what Chloe was doing and the datapad suddenly vanished from her hand. "Hey, that's mine!" In a simple, finder's keepers concept by which Lexis very much lived, it was hers. Still, her attention remained on the one that upset her. "No." A simple answer. He couldn't have it back. Chloe was doing something to it. Not that she would get very far with it but she still wished the brunette would finish whatever she was doing so she could take it back.
"Who are you?" She asked the man though, her slugthrower still at shoulder length, aimed at him. In her head she counted, she didn't like to wait long for answers.
Jonathon Patches
Patches raised his hands slowly in the air, this of course not being the first time a weapon was pointed in his direction. As the other one snatched his datapad, and began stroking the keys aimlessly, Patches attention returned to the one pointing the slug-thrower at him for the time being.
Judging by the way she wielded that blaster, he got the impression that she didn't like to wait long for answers, so he mustered a quick "Jonathon..." in response, before adding calmly as he slowly used one of his raised hands to point at the datapad the short haired one wielded "the rightful owner of that datapad there."
Ok... it wasn't his most honest statement of the day...
Chloe Van Derveld
Chloe wasn't stroking the keys aimlessly. She was verifying what made and model the datapad was. Without further ado, she drew a small tiny device from her belt, clipping it just on top of the datapad. Being from the future had it's perks. Like nearly seventy decades worth of advanced tech that could easily slice into such silly things as older generation datapads.
Decrypting code strung in vibrant green vertical strands of what would be near senseless sigils across the display; but to Chloe, it was something altogether different. Without blinking, she merely stated with a near stoic tone, her dual coloured gaze fixated upon the datascreen in front of her, "Truth and lie."
It was the tiniest flutters of his biosystem that gave her that tiny bit of an edge, but not enough to discern which of his statement was true or not. Honestly, she didn't care. What she hold her interest was the datapad -- and it's contents.
Lexis Ferran
The guy raised his hands like she'd seen people do often when a slugthrower was aimed at them. Jonathon. That doesn't tell me who he is. People make up names. We did. "Hi, Jonathon!" Hey, she got a name, she had some manners. Kinda. The slugthrower was still aimed at him. She didn't trust him. And apparently he was the rightful owner of the datapad.
Lexis didn't look away from him but she listened to Chloe as she gave a simple statement. Truth and Lie. "What's true and what is a lie?" Shana asked plainly, the switch happening in a blink of an eye.
Jonathon Patches
[SIZE=11.818181991577148px]"[/SIZE]Truth and lie.[SIZE=11.818181991577148px]"[/SIZE]
I don't like her, he mused to himself, hands still reaching for the sky as the slugthrower aimed at him did not appear to be going anywhere, anytime soon. Then, he noticed her pull out some fancy device - it's origins unknown - and begin playing with his datapad. MY datapad, he mused.
His head tiled to the side slightly, watching the strange device break through firewall after encryption on the device; something that he had certainly intended on doing as well, though certainly not in as quick a manner. His head snapped to the attention of slugthrower wielding woman as she startled him with a rather jovial rendition of his name.
"Uh.... hi," he managed, soon finding the truth of his previous statement coming into question. What is going on here? he thought to himself, not quite sure.
"I uh.... might have been exaggerating the ownership of that their datapad," he said, nodding to little miss slicer, before he added "Let's just say it's a recent acquisition."
"And you are?" he asked to both women, watching the contents of his 'recently acquired' datapad be sliced unmercifully.
Chloe Van Derveld
"He spouts truths and lies." Chloe clarified for Lexis, but again, her focus was upon the datapad. Across the screen of the tiny devices, a series of lights slowly came on across a horizontal line to relay it's progress. Of course, being an older model datapad, it flickered through all five lights fairly quickly.
"Imperial," she said, recognizing the first files of data as the Imperial emblem bloomed on the displays background. Her thumb lightly flipped through the various screens as she passively blinked. The more she read the information, the more confused she became. That's when she glanced up at Jonathon.
"This isn't supposed to be here."
Lexis Ferran
His story changed. Now he claimed to be exaggerating the ownership of the datapad. What does exeggerating mean? Lexis asked. Means he's lying, Shana answered her short and sweet, without much information. It did eventually come to that and explaining it too long to Lexis would just mean she'd lose interest. A recent acquisition. "Don't lie to me," Shana said, still hearing Chloe to her side. Her finger braced over the safety to make sure it was off and pointed the gun a little higher and the barrel now directly faced the man's throat. "I don't like lies. Don't lie to me." Sure, people could lie all they wanted to the rest of the galaxy but she liked truth to her questions.
Imperial, Chloe finally got her an answer. "Was that too hard, Jonathon? You could have just said so." She was a thief, stolen goods didn't really matter to her. Finders keepers was what she believed in but original owners were irrelevant. But lies were a far bigger sin to her.
She redrew her weapon, she put the safety back on and let her hand fall to the side. She'd still shoot the man if he tried anything like the stunt before, she was a quick one, he didn't have to test her. But now the datapad held her interest. Moving over to Chloe, she looked down on the string of data formed on the screen. She recognized none of them, other that they were supposed to be letters of the alphabet from which she could barely name a few. "What are you gonna do with this?" Lexis asked Jonathan again, her brown gaze shifting back to him.
