What to do when the world's against you

[Daniel Imura]

Akon sighed before relenting and shaking the man's hand, a firm, heavy grip. "Kayvaan, huh? Well Kayvaan, I hope you're not lying to me about your experiences in the undercity, because we're going to it's heart." In the back of his head, he wondered if what Kayvaan had said was actually true, or just a bluff to get his attention. Either way, they would soon find out.

@[member="Kayvaan Niveus"]

 

[Kayvaan Niveus]

''Trust me, I wouldn't lie about something like that.'' Kayvaan said. He had been to the lower city of Coruscant many times during his time in the Jedi Order. There he had seen how bad it was and what the crime-lords and other gangs did to all the innocents and how little resistance there was. He had gotten into trouble a couple of times just because he helped a couple of innocents that were getting robbed by gangsters. Now he would be able to help even more people and the best part was that now he wouldn't be doing it alone.

@[member="Akon Devoda"]

 

[Daniel Imura]

"Alright, just don't think i'm your bodyguard. If you do wind up getting into trouble, I may not always be there to back you up. That's just the way it is in theundercity. Look after yourself, fend for yourself." As he walked, he stole a few glances at the man. He'd seen plenty of races, especially in the Coruscant underworld, but a fox-man was completely new to him. "So tell me, Kayvaan- what exactly are you?"

@[member="Kayvaan Niveus"]

 

[Kayvaan Niveus]

Kayvaan wasn't surprised when hearing @[member="Akon Devoda"]'s question. Many people had asked him the same thing before and he got used to it after a while. So he answered ''Well, my parents taught me that I am a Ruferalahuín. The Ruferalahuín are an isolated species and they don't like to leave their home planet. Also, the reason I use 'they' and not 'we' is because I don't really feel like I'm a part of this species. I grew up on a different planet with only the only ones of my species that I have ever met being my parents and they didn't like the way their culture lived, so they went out to a different planet where they live happily now. There they got me and I spent most of my life there with them in my old home. Now however I want to explore the galaxy and get to know as many people and things as I can. What about you?''

 

[Daniel Imura]

Akon cringed a little as the question was asked, initiating a vision. "I don't talk about my past. Don't ask me again." After a minute, he realized that he was probably asking what species he was. Though he was shi'ido, he hid that much from him. "I'm a human. We're common enough around here."

@[member="Kayvaan Niveus"]

 

[Kayvaan Niveus]

Kayvaan had already guessed that @[member="Akon Devoda"] didn't want tell him everything and he didn't want to anger him by asking too many questions, but his childish side took over and he asked about his past. ''Well at least tell me what planet you're from and how you ended up here on Coruscant.'' He hoped that Akon would tell him at least this much. Then he would at least know something other than that Akon was a Force sensitive.

 

[Daniel Imura]

A frustrated sigh escaped Akon's lips. He had always lived on Coruscant. That's just the way it was. "Look, I-" "Yo What're you two idiots doin' in my territory?" A man in a ragged tank top appeared from the out her side of the street, walking toward them. As he got closer, he pulled out a small knife. Looking both men up and down, he began slowly circling them. "You seem to fit, but you- You're not from around here, are you pal?" He pointed to Kayvaan with the blade, demanding answers. Akon remained silent.

@[member="Kayvaan Niveus"]

 

[Kayvaan Niveus]

Kayvaan followed the man with his eyes, calculating several ways how to disarm the man, but he didn't want to use violence, yet. So he answered ''You're right, I'm not from Coruscant. Although I did live here for ten years. Also, could you please put down the knife? We mean you no harm, we're merely walking through here.''

@[member="Akon Devoda"]

 

[Daniel Imura]

The man gave a light chuckle, obviously amused by the foreigner's attempts at peace. Shaking his head, he stabbed forward with the knife and attempted to stab him. Reacting even quicker, Akon morphed into a king cobra, leapt up and constricted the man's hand so he would let go of the knife. Once it was on the ground, he morphed into a wolf and pinned him down, snarling in his face.

@[member="Kayvaan Niveus"]

 

[Kayvaan Niveus]

When the man's arm shot forward into Kayvaan's direction, he was already prepared. He was about to dodge and grab the man's arm so that he could then knock the knife out of the man's hand and resolve the situation without anyone coming to harm. But before he could do that, @[member="Akon Devoda"] suddenly jumped at the man's arm as a ... SNAKE? Kayvaan didn't know what was happening and then he got even more confused when Akon suddenly turned from snake to wolf, pinning the man down to the ground. This threw up so many questions that he wanted to ask, but first he needed to make sure the man who had threatened him wouldn't get injured by Akon. ''Wait, don't hurt him and what in the name of the Force did just happen to you?''

 

[Daniel Imura]

Turning his head to look at Kayvaan in his peripheral vision, he morphed back to his human form. The man was now completely terrified. "It's you! Stay away from me you freak!" He scrambled out from under Akon and ran away screaming, after which the shi'ido got up and brushed himself off. "Okay, I may have lied about being human."

@[member="Kayvaan Niveus"]

 

[Kayvaan Niveus]

Kayvaan was relieved when @[member="Akon Devoda"] didn't harm the man. It was good that he didn't, because Kayvaan would've probably gotten angry at him. However that wasn't the interesting part. What was interesting was Akon's true species. Kayvaan had never heard from a morphing species. ''What kind of species are you?'' He asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

[Daniel Imura]

Once the question was asked, it was Akon's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You're telling me you've never heard of a shi'ido? Sure they're not that common, but not many species can shapeshift."

@[member="Kayvaan Niveus"]

 

[Kayvaan Niveus]

''Well, I just haven't been traveling in the galaxy for that long and on my home planet I didn't learn much about other species ...'' Kayvaan said. After all he did only leave his planet about twelve years ago and for one of his kind, that was like 2 or 3 months of their lifetime. In that time he had also been locked in the Jedi Temple because of his disputes with the gangs in Coruscant's lower city.

@[member="Akon Devoda"]

 

[Daniel Imura]

Akon nodded, understanding. "Well... like I said, don't expect me to always be there to help you out. I could have let him stab you if I wanted." He turned and continued to his destination, not caring whether or not Kayvaan followed him. Somehow though, he knew he would. He didn't want to say anything, but the man's determination actually impressed him. Not many civilized looking people actually made it in the undercity, but he was deliberately walking into the lion's den. That took serious stones.

@[member="Kayvaan Niveus"]

 

[Kayvaan Niveus]

Kayvaan followed @[member="Akon Devoda"] and when he was next to Akon, he said ''He wouldn't have been able to stab me. I was already prepared and was about to disarm him, but then you did it for me. Thanks for that by the way.'' Kayvaan had dealt with thugs ever since he came to Coruscant. He had learned how to disarm people without injuring them during his time with the Jedi and he was skilled with melee weapons as well. To deal with blaster fire he simply dodged or absorbed the the bolts with his Lightsaber. It was hard for simple gangsters to even shoot near Kayvaan, that's how fast he usually was in battles. Plus he was confident in himself and in his abilities and now he would have someone else who could help him. Admittedly Akon did say that he wouldn't always help him, but that didn't mean he wouldn't help Kayvaan at all, right?

@[member="Akon Devoda"]

 

[Daniel Imura]

Akon ignored most of his words, instead thinking inwardly. For a second, he thought he felt something. It was like a memory, but he had never seen the scene before. In it, he saw a man clad in a strange looking but menacing armor, with a dark gray lightsaber standing among at least ten corpses. The being radiated pure power, almost intoxicating. He had to fight himself to exit his dream-like state. The entire time this was going on, he held a blank expression on his face.

@[member="Kayvaan Niveus"]

 

[Kayvaan Niveus]

After Kayvaan had finished his question, he waited a little while before looking at @[member="Akon Devoda"] again. Now he saw why he hadn't responded, Akon didn't really seem to be quite with him at the moment. He looked like he wasn't noticing anything around them. It was almost as if he was just a walking body with no one inside and this got Kayvaan worried. Waving his hand in front of Akon's face he said ''You alright?''

 

[Daniel Imura]

After a few minutes, Akon finally returned to the real world, blinking a few times. The first thing he saw was a hand waving in front of him, rather annoyingly. Finally regaining control of his own body, he swatted it away. "I'm fine. Where are we now?"

@[member="Kayvaan Niveus"]

 

[Kayvaan Niveus]

''Good to have you back and we're near the Uscru Entertainment District.'' Kayvaan said while pointing to a giant building that was illuminated by many lights. ''That up there is the galaxies opera house. It's a fine place you should visit it one day, I've been there a couple of times and had a great time. But that's not why we're here. In the Uscru district the upper parts seem fine, but the lower parts. Those are inhabited by some of the biggest scum in the galaxy.''

@[member="Akon Devoda"]