Private Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life for Me

[Persephone Dashiell]

Aboard Public Transport PT-2987 | Route : Coruscant to Centrality Sector
Casaana | Ezekiel Dashiell
​

Public Transport?!

Persephone had no choice.

Public transport wasn't unusual for the girl just a scant six months ago. Living in the Lower City of Taris, dirt poor, the only form of transportation besides one's feet was to hop aboard with everyone else. Having access to an incredible fortune now, Persie thought her days of sitting in neat rows of chairs or benches, crammed in like a sardine, trying to drown out the unwashed masses was over. Really, why would she hop aboard when she could be on a luxury freighter headed back to the space station where she lived?

Problem was, there had been none available. Not even any from her sister-in-laws company, although Persie wasn't sure if she wanted to hop aboard a freighter on business, there had been a lot of searches by governmental entities aboard business vessels. Makky said it was because of the dick measurin' contest between the Sith and Jedi, meant they were all payin' the price in one way or another.

So here she was, earbuds in listening to Pillie Illish, trying to drown out the sounds around her. Unable to travel alone, Makai's protocol droid Thirty-Seven was standing near-by as not to take up a seat. All the better, she didn't want to be the weirdo with a protocol droid chattering away next to her. A small price to visit the hustle and bustle of Coruscant. Makky and Myra told her to go now, before war encroached closer. The teenage girl made several purchases, having them sent to Huila Station so she didn't have to potentially lose a bag or get it stolen.

Hand resting on her head, Persie hoped the flight would go smoothly.

 

[Casaana]

The awesomest thing about space travel, Casaana decided, was that she didn't have to wear her padawan robes. That was the only awesome thing about public travel though. oh wait! She was alone this time which meant no one was telling her what to do, or more accurately not do. But now she was booooored... The transport had been interesting at first but she wasn't allowed out of the public spaces and her own little room was little more than a coffin sleeper which she wanted to spend as little time in as possible.

Instead she found herself walking down the rows as she craned over searching through her outfit's pants pockets for a tube of food. Finally she came up with some synthsteak! A quick pull of the tab and the the food paste was warmed. Naturally she ate as she walked, holding the packet in her mouth so her hands were free to tap surfaces as she passed them. Down the row a humanoid droid caught her eye. That meant it was a protocol droid! Or an assassin.... She wandered over to take a look at it and it didn't look all that dangerous. She sucked down some more synth steak as she idly drummed her fingers on the metal of the droids arm before a girl about her age sitting alone caught her eye. "Hey! Whatcha listen'n to?" She asked around her food.

Persephone Dashiell Ezekiel Dashiell Iko Vel

 

[Iko Vel]

Iko felt like some kind of intergalactic superspy as he sat, doing his best to stay hidden. And what was the perfect disguise for someone to try and hide themselves from someone that might recognise them? A scarf and some glasses! Who'd ever expect that? No-one! That's who!...Well, the fact that Iko was the one who was wearing the disguise meant that he'd probably expect someone else wearing it...Wait. Why was he even disguised again? The Young Padawan tilted his head in thought for a moment, trying to figure out the reasoning...before shrugging his shoulders. Eh, it can't be that important if he couldn't remember it. He had even disguised his sword in a handy dandy travel case for a guitar...He totally had a license for it.

He stretched his arms out as he sat back in his chair, resting his feet up for a moment as he started to look around the rows to see who his fellow passengers were. Some of them seemed pretty boring. There were some interesting ones. Some girl with food. Thirty-Seven stood off to the side. Some random Zabr-...Wait. Thirty-Seven? Iko's head swung back to look at the Protocol droid, jumping straight up to his feet and throwing his arms into the air all of a sudden. "Thirteen-Seventy Seven! You're here!...Wait. If you're here...That means..." As his eyes scanned around the area, he spotted Persie and his face almost immediately lit up! "PERSIE!" One of the only names he actually managed to get right. Well technically. If he had to say Persephone all the time, it would have turned into something like...Pursey Phone. That aside, Iko practically sprinted over towards his friend and Girl-With-Food, his energy levels having skyrocketed.

Persephone Dashiell Casaana Ezekiel Dashiell

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

Lost in her own little world, Persephone was nearly startled when someone came to sit next to her. She looked the girl over as she came to sit next to her, settling into the not-quite-comfortable seats. Blue eyes immediately brightened when she saw the combat boots the other was wearing, no way! Earbud was taken out so she could have a conversation.

"Pillie Illish. Ocean Eyes, if you wanna be exact. So much better than that Skylar Quick."

A frown on her face. Skylar Quick just released an album with thirty-one agonizing songs. Myra Arceneau Dashiell had been blasting it non-stop, and while she had a room to escape to, that didn't mean she had to endure around the house, or in the airspeeder, or when it bled through the walls because the woman was blasting it entirely too loud for someone her age.

"You wanna listen too?"

Offering up the earbuds, Persephone suddenly realized she didn't introduce herself.

"Who's is you? I'm..."

"PERSIE!"

"....Persie."

Eyes went wide and face lit up at the sound of the over excited voice. It was the boy she had met on Ukatis, at a festival. They had spoke for a good portion of the evening and even exchanged comm numbers! Persie had been sending messages to him almost daily, even thought the time difference between Coruscant and the Centrality Sector was quite large.

"Hey Iko!" Come on Persie, don't be too enthusiastic and desperate. "This is my new friend...uh..."

Casaana | Iko Vel | Ezekiel Dashiell

 

[Casaana]

For the first two words it was almost like the long-haired girl wasn't speaking basic and the rest of it weren't much better. But then she offered to share an ear bud and Casaana reached out with one hand and took her food tube in the other, "Sure!" Hopefully whatever was playing hadn't been what scrambled the poor girl's speech centers, or maybe it was and there was a devious plot for a Jedi to unravel!

"Who's is you? I'm..." Someone shouted out a name the girl repeated "....Persie."

"There an echo in here?" She asked turning at the sound of running feet to see a boy charging them down. She was all set to whallop him in defense when something about him resonated with her, she'd seen him before hadn't she? Then Persie called out to him and she remembered. "Not an echo, an Iko!" Proud of herself, she smiled before Persie fumbled for her name. "Casaana." She supplied clipping her synth steak shut and pocketing the remainder before plopping down next to the other girl and screwing the ear bud with its wonderfully strange music into her ear.

Persephone Dashiell Ezekiel Dashiell Iko Vel

 

[Iko Vel]

"An Iko, Iko, Iko." Iko smirked to himself, acting like there was an actual echo. Shaking his head afterwards as he gave Casaana a small little wave! "Cassie there is greeeeat!" Iko mimiced a certain Tiger Mascot who shall not named, nodding over towards Casaana. Of course, he barely knew her, but hey! She was around at the Temple. Sometimes. And all Jedi were great! at least...He hadn't met a bad Jedi. Well, that would be because bad Jedi would probably be Sith...Wait. He was letting his thoughts run again. He had to stay focused! Well, he didn't have to because it wasn't like he was in class...but still!

"...if I was more responsible, I'd be askin' what you're doin' 'ere...but I'm not!" Well. That wasn't something to be proud about, but Iko put his hands on his hips either way and posed like a superhero! Casaana could do whatever she wanted. Iko wasn't some stinky old Jedi Knight or Master who wanted to ruin people's fun. Not yet anyway.

"...What's that little doo-'ickey?" Iko pointed over towards the earbuds, tilting his head at the sight of them. He hadn't properly listened to music before in his life. Why would he? He just listened to the music of the natural world! And by natural world, he'd mean him hitting metal with a hammer. Or hitting robots with metal. Or hitting metal with more metal. Let's just say, if he had a favourite type of music, it would be heavy metal.

Casaana Persephone Dashiell Ezekiel Dashiell

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

"Pleasure to meet you Casaana." Or Cassie, as Iko pointed out. The teenage boy was bad with names so Persie wasn't quite sure if that was her actual nickname or just something the Jedi boy had made up and decided to call her. Probably the latter. Apparently they were both Jedi - were there no normal teenagers in this 'verse? Seemed everyone she ran into was a Jedi. Apparently they weren't allowed to be on the public transport, or at least that was what Iko was alluding to.

Persie, on the other hand, had no problems askin'.

"Whatcha y'all doin' out here with us regular folks? Sounds like you ain't 'supposed'ta be."

Other earbud was offered to Iko. Apparently Jedi children were not allowed to listen to music? Miss Ar-sin-new always said the Jedi were no good floozy cultists. Guess music was against the cult rules. If Persephone thought her upbringing was weird, the Jedi just got deeper and deep into eccentricity.

"An earbud. Music, y'know?"


Iko Vel | Ezekiel Dashiell | Casaana

 

[Casaana]

Great, Iko was being a pain. She didn't know him much either, but if anything that made him playing with Casaana's name worse. And he didn't know the first thing about music, or headphones somehow? "Yer playing." She accused him, not caring about why the older boy might be there.

The music was slow and too synthesized for her tastes, and the male background singer should have been in more of it, or just all of it. At least for the half track she listened to before forming her opinion. Really this Pillie girl seemed to be in the dumps and a real mood killer. "Here, you can have it back," Casaana told Persie holding the bud back out to her. "And I'm totally supposed to be here! I've got a ticket," She squirmed around checking her pockets, "Somewhere.... Anyways I'm moving again, dunno about the dork."

Persephone Dashiell Ezekiel Dashiell Iko Vel

 

[Iko Vel]

"Oh! Music. My dad didn't let me listen to music much. Said it would rot my brain or somethin'...then 'e realised it was pointless anyway. My brain was already rotten or somethin'...but I dunno. I don't think I'm rotten. I'm still pretty fresh!...I think?"

Iko shrugged his shoulders. He didn't seem to be too bothered about that comment. Even as Casaana called him a dork. Though he tapped his nose when Casaana mentioned that she had her own ticket and he broke out into his own little smirk.

"I 'ave my own ticket as well. I'm...'untin'. For...metal. Yeah. Metal. I need some fancy metal to use for my sword...Also need to find some plants or medicines that'll 'elp deal with burns"

The Padawan was still leaving out the fact that he had a sword in his guitar case. There was no need to let them know about it. Instead he just rubbed his hands over each other. There were a few bruises here and there from him using a hammer the wrong way...but it wasn't that bad! He just turned his attention to Persie and Casaana instead. Just taking the earbud to listen to the music and standing nearby Persie with a smile on his face. He wouldn't be lying if he said Persie was one of the best friends he had ever met! But there's only like...two people who actually said they were his friend so...

"I suppose we technically aren't meant to be 'ere though...'Cause like, if someone attacks the transport, I guess Jedi kids make good 'ostages...but I dare someone to attack. I'll rough 'em up!"

With that, Iko put his hands up as if he was getting to punch something...before going back to relaxing to the music. It was...interesting to say the least. Not something he was used to.

Casaana Ezekiel Dashiell Persephone Dashiell

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

Persie raised an eyebrow. These Jedi kids could just run free to look for metal and herbs? The other one was moving,which made perfect sense to her. That was a reason to be on a transport. As for metal, due to Makky she had to stare at metal * a lot*. Not quite the most exciting venture out in the 'verse but apparently there was a plethora to learn.

"Crazy yous y'all get to run free without someone starin' over ya."

A reference to Thirty-Seven. The protocol droid was still staring her down, its amber eyes not leaving her location. Makky had mentioned getting her a unit of her own and she had quickly shut that down. A protocol droid, really? Well....it was better than the tuna can that was Noah Corek Jr. . At least droids had a reason to have metal on everywhere they went. Corek Junior did not.

Clearly Persie still wasn't over that incident.

"Easy there killah...no need'ta resort to violence."

Looking back to the girl, she remembered a conversation she had with Iko when they first met about Jedi Temples and dormitories. Apparently a lot of the Jedi kids were being shuffled around due to the war. Made sense to her. War seemed to make everything busy and chaotic.

"Yous moving cause of the war? Or just a change'a pace? Or is it like a diff'rent school? I thought Makky and Myra we're goin' to toss me in boardin' school at first.."

Iko Vel | Casaana | Ezekiel Dashiell

 

[Casaana]

"Why wouldn't we be okay to be on our own? We're 'sponsible!" She protested to Persie's mention of having someone to watch over them. Granted she'd received quite the stern warning before setting out on her journey, but that was probably a standard thing and had mostly been about hiding the fact she was a jedi and not using her lightsaber unless absolutely necessary. Something she felt she was way ahead of considering that time in the woods when all the masters drew at the slightest noise but she'd kept hers deactivated. And Iko was wrong, he might not have been meant to be here, but she had a ticket and a mission. A secret mission.

Being asked about why she was being moved brought Casaana up short and she stopped moving for the first time as she thought of just why she was being moved. "Partly the war. People are kinda upset about a nother empire popping up in tha core. Should be good fighting though." Her young face screwed up as she tried to keep her hope down and look mature and mysterious at the same time. "Also there may be a um... teacher for me at tha new school." She shot Iko a dirty look for giving them away. "Anyways, why're you leaving?" Probably not for stupid metal, that was everywhere, and everybody knew you got bacta from Tyfearrriy... Tyferrea.... the bacta corporations, which was the best for burns and other injuries.

Persephone Dashiell Ezekiel Dashiell Iko Vel

 

[Iko Vel]

"I mean, I ain't got a master. That's why I ain't got someone 'overin' over my shoulder. If I ever get one...Then...Well...Yeah."

Iko shrugged his shoulders at that. He wasn't too worried about not having a master right now. It gave him more freedom in his eyes. Freedom to do what he wanted. As long as he didn't get caught. Though his eyes lit up for a moment as he realised something and started to pat himself down for a moment. Damn it! He didn't expect to see Persie today. He left the gift back at the temple. His visible amount of energy seemingly fading away at that, as the young Lad was disappointed in not being prepared for any situation.

Alongside that look of disappointed, Iko always seemed to be serious for a moment, looking over towards Casaana with a frown. It was one thing for him to be excited about fighting...But it was another thing to him for other people to be excited for it. Was it somewhat hypocritical of him? Yes. Did he care? No. He knew the Jedi were meant to look for peace and all that boring stuff...He just felt more alive when he was fighting...Maybe Casaana felt the same way? He shook his head, trying not to focus on that.

"...Are you askin why I'm leavin'? Or Persie?"

Iko knew Persie wasn't from Coruscant, so she was probably...going somewhere else. Come to think of it...The Padawan blinked to himself before looking at Persie and Casaana.

"...Where is this thing even goin'?"
Persephone Dashiell Casaana Ezekiel Dashiell

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

"Should be good fighting.."

Voice was expressionless, face blank. Fighting? War? As her Mama would say, the girl ain't even grown into her boots yet. Yet both of them seemed eager to run off and join in some fight. Not herself. What good was stickin' their neck out gonna do? Not that she was going to voice this to either one of them ; seemed exceedingly rude to do so.

"I think she's askin' you. Why you're leavin'."

Yet in typical teenage boy fashion, Iko didn't even know where the vessel was going. Why did he get aboard then? Did he even look at the ticket when he boarded? The destination ticker when getting onto the transport? Apparently Jedi were interested in just goin' where they wind took them apparently.

"We left Coruscant, now goin' to the Centrality Sector. Beyond that I think this goes out'ta the Tingel Arm. I ain't going that far though, out to Centrality only..."

Casaana | Iko Vel | Ezekiel Dashiell

 

[Casaana]

What? Persie had been talking to her and she was answering back, she sighed. "I was asking Persie. Even though she doesn't wanna answer." Which wasn't fair, even though she wasn't going to tell the others where she was going either. Even if Iko gave it away. The Masters had made it plain that they needed to protect the location of the various hidden temples least they become targets of opportunity. And since they were currently shuffling younglings around, that could be a disaster.

The talk had turned to something she didn't really want to think about and she bounced in the seat a bit before bounding to her feet. "Whelp, it's boring here. Imma go look for something fun. You two wanna come along?" Even the windows were boring between transiting through systems on the way to the next lightspeed jump. They never got close enough to see anything other than more stars, and the swirling kaleidoscope of hyper was even less interesting than that.

Persephone Dashiell Ezekiel Dashiell Iko Vel

 

[Iko Vel]

Iko would never give too much information away!...Mostly because he couldn't remember that much information anyway. In a way, that makes Iko a perfect secret agent. He can't give the enemy any information, if he couldn't remember it at the end of the day. Nodding to himself as he folded his arms along his front. Breaking out into a grin at that thought as Iko leaned back against their chair. Fiddling with his earbud ever so slightly, or well Persie's. Just humming to himself as he kicked his legs back and forth.

"Hm? I'm having fun sat here with Persie." He jabbed his thumb over towards Persie for a moment, before biting his lip. Should he try and be responsible for once and make sure Casaana wasn't walking around by herself...Well. She seemed like she'd be safe enough by herself! And Iko was definitely a great judge of character. There was that one person on Coruscant who said they'd paid him double the money he gave them to their Nabooian cousin...But that money never came in...Hm...Maybe he should go with Casaana.

With that, Iko hopped up to his feet, brushing his legs off down to make sure there wasn't any mess and adjusted his "guitar" case.

Casaana Persephone Dashiell Ezekiel Dashiell

 

[Ezekiel Dashiell]

Elsewhere on the ship, a man with a cavalier smile would check his Chrono watch with giddy anticipation. Ah, such a lovely, lovely evening. Dressed to the nines in what could only be considered to be a dandy's outfit, complete with a full-length blue leather trench coat, feathered black hat, and ruffled white shirt, he appeared to be an eccentric young nobleman taking the poor man's transit after falling in hard times.

Nothing out of the ordinary when considering the millions of Empress Tetan refugees of varying nobility having to make due without their precious credits and high end luxuries due to the war between the Dark Empire and the Alliance.

This was a scene that the Blue Star Pirates were keen to take advantage of, especially after the chaos and security were redirected to the Core Worlds.

A small beep and Zeke, otherwise known as Ezekiel Dashiell gave a hum of pleasure.

"Ah, look at the time," the scruffy swarthy, and handsome visage of the ever so charming and pretty, oh-so-pretty Dashiell black sheep would pan his gaze over towards the tied-up Lieutenant officer in nothing but his unmentionables at his feet.

"Oh, don't look at me like that. It wasn't my fault you couldn't keep your hands off me. Really, my dear," as Zeke gave a tug of his ruffled sleeve, "I did tell you to be careful," Bright pearly white teeth would flash as he then revealed the electrified tazer in his hand.

"Then again... I can't blame you. I am terribly, terribly oh so pretty!" The sudden sizzle and cerulean flash of a series of electric zaps and muffled groans filled the small maintenance cell.

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

Persie wasn't sure how a boring ol' public transportation ship would have anything of real fun or exciting value to do. They could circle around and stare at the crew. Maybe stop by the galley and get a caf. At least it would be a stretching of their legs and a different bit of scenery. She was content to listen to her music and scroll through ZikZok, but both teenagers seemed eager to get about.

Well, Casaana seemed eager to get out. Iko Vel was a bit hyperactive so no doubt he would want to take a tour of the ship. There seemed to be a rivalry between the two. Different Jedi Temples? Maybe they had contests going on, spur up a little competition? Everything about the Jedi thus far seemed very odd and unusual to her. No way she was going to ask for some explanation.

"Yeah, we's can walk around. Come on, lead the way."

Persie got up and followed Casaana. Naturally, Thirty-Seven would follow as well, keeping his distance but tracking the group of teenagers. Sneaky as kids may be, it was hard to hide from advanced optical sensors.

Ezekiel Dashiell

 

[Casaana]

"You can still hang out with Persie while we walk around," Casaana called Iko out while moving down the semi-crowded isle. It was pretty obvious he liked her. Behind them she heard the protocol droid following them like some shiny stalker. At least she was moving again. Sitting was okay but she hadn't had anything to do. Maybe she really should have picked up knitting like someone had suggested to her, it had just seemed so boring with all the repetitive movements and patterns.

Still, now that they were moving again, she didn't know what to do other than wander. It didn't help that she was feeling more restless than usual. Less than a day on the ship and she was already going stir-crazy without her Jedi exercises to burn through her energy. Alongside Persie as they left the cabin area with its seats and row of windows, Casaana to the other girl. "You ever ride a ship like this before? Know of anything fun?" Wait, obviously not since she'd been sitting and listening to questionable music rather than doing the fun. "How about food?" She looked over to Iko, "You hungry?"

Persephone Dashiell Ezekiel Dashiell Iko Vel

 

[Iko Vel]

Awesome! Iko got to spend more time with his friends! Well...Friend. He wasn't sure if Casaana was his friend. Part of him hoped she was. As he went to follow his fellow Padawan, Iko stretched his arms out, rubbing his shoulders ever so slightly. He had taken a small break from actually doing any physical exercises, having tried to work on his mental exercises. Meditation, reading. All of that boring stuff. Sure, he was able to read now somewhat...but that didn't mean he found it fun. It didn't do anything for getting his energy out. It's why he was practically hopping around with Persie and Casaana.

"Food is great! I'm alwwwways hungry. The portions back at the temple are always too small."

Iko whined slightly. That wasn't necessarily the truth. It was more that he was just a typical teenage boy, constantly hungry no matter what he ate. Twirling around on his foot, Iko started to walk backwards with the group as he checked out Thirty-Seven. Wondering what kind of metal and components the droid must have been made out of...Hm...Maybe he could try to get into robot making. imagine making a bodyguard droid that came with sword arms!...Wait, how would it open doors then?...Okay. Sword Arm Bodyguard Droids were off the table now...


Ezekiel Dashiell Casaana Persephone Dashiell

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

Persie got up, following along with the two young Jedi. Both seemed a little restless and she wondered why. They both seemed preoccupied with fighting, so perhaps a lot of training on her end.

She definitely did not train. Makky tried taking her for a run and she quickly moved out halfway through. Sweaty and out of breath? No thank you.

"I've been on a public transport before. Wasn't as nice as this. Went'a Zeltrons, so's you can imagine."

They were naturally steering towards the cafe, Thirty-Seven trailing behind, distracting Iko. The droid blended in on the public transport, not uncommon for droids to be out conducting business or wandering through the galaxy at their owners whims.

"We can hit the on-board cafe. Whatever yous guys want, I'll pay. 'Specially since they ain't feeding y'all properly."

Casaana | Iko Vel | Ezekiel Dashiell