VashAfter a drawn out, awkward silence Iisska finally managed a stifled, “Oh.”
“Oh.” Nyrette echoed Iisska’s reaction. “He just...took off?”
“That is the gist of it, yes.” Marquis sighed.
“Did he say anything?” Iisska asked, “At all?”
“No. The ramp lowered while I was out here cleaning up and before it even touched down he took off on his speeder. I never had the chance to ask him where he was going,” said Marquis.
“If it isn’t one thing then it’s another,” Quin shrugged, “I’m sure he’ll return soon… With half the country chasing down his head.”
“Or more drunk than Cheshik on his birthday,” Nyrette chuckled and went back to gathering up the supplies and organizing them in the ship.
“What in the shitting hell is that?” Tristan spewed, standing some safe distance away from the pile of twisted metal that used to be the Harpoon, “Don’t tell me you live in that thing. It looks like it’s going to collapse.”
“Do not be rude, stranger.” Marquis quipped upon hearing the insult. “Iisska has done a good job with the ship. Also. Quin. Who are they? I thought I said no more pets. We have enough mouths to feed.” Marquis crossed his arms.
“Yes. I agree. Iisska already eats more than Kobel.” Nyrette chuckled as she walked past with an arm full of alcohol.
“Mm,” Quin turned toward the twins, “A couple of hooligans our boys took an interest in and had Nyrette, Cynthia and myself arrested over. They insisted they meet you.”
The one with a beard had seemed to magically appear between Quin and Marquis and was offering the droid a hand to shake while his eyes darted all over his frame. The other remained behind but gawked at Marquis in a way that was excruciatingly uncomfortable.
“You’re the golem thing! Not like any I’ve ever heard of, but still,” Tristan blurted out.”
“What in the bloody hell is a golem?” Marquis questioned, “This one of them, Quin?”
She nodded and smirked.
“Excellent.” He held up his hand and flicked Tristan in the forehead. “Baaack with you. Back.” He flicked him again.
“Ow!” Tristan reeled back, “Ow! Damn it! What crawled up your arse!?”
“My fiance is unpowered and now the ship is too crowded to think straight. What do you think ‘crawled up me arse’” Marquis’ eye turned orange-ish red from the annoyance. “Plus, you and your rather dour looking brother behind you imprisoned my crewmates, So you deserved it.”
“Truth be told, the guards imprisoned them,” Tristan said well out of flicking range, “And we wouldn’t be here if stripes over there hadn’t tried to choke me out in the street.”
From inside the ship, Cheshik came strolling down with a towel wrapped around his waist. He joined the group, catching the last bit of what Tristan said. “To be fair.” He started. “You broke faces on one another in street. Both blames are on you and Iisska. Speaking which. Iisska?’ He waved his hand in front of the Togruta’s face. “You there, brother?”
“Don’t,” Iisska mumbled and stepped away. His gaze was finally broken from some fixed point in the distance, “You two. You know this place. You wanna stay, you want safety in numbers, you wanna wander around our stuff like tourists, then you work and you play nice. So sick of this shit.”
Nyrette came back out for a third trip, grabbing Quin by the arm out of a bit of annoyance so she could stop standing around and actually help put all the stuff in the fridge in the lounge. “And don’t even think of using the showers. Especially ours. One bit of boy-sauce in my shower and I’ll cut somebody.” Nyrette threatened.
“Deal,” Luke agreed.
“What’s a shower?” Tristan asked no one in particular.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Luke gave a short bow to Marquis and ignored the question, “What can we help with?”
Cheshik scooted away holding the towel up and came back a few moments later with two makeshift fireaxes. “We require wood that which is used for fire. Onward you go.” He handed over the axes.
“Ah,” Tristan grimaced and took the axe, “Right. Eh, we’re on it then! So, where are your clothes?”
“Can Trandoshan not enjoy time with toga towel?” Cheshik shrugged.
“Nnggehh, I suppose?” He backed away slowly, even more confused than before.
Luke was already long gone into the woods. Tristan quickly strode away in the wrong direction.
Inside the Harpoon, Iisska threw the door to Zen’s quarters off its runners. The bed was empty. Dressers and chests were left open and disheveled. An assortment of garments and various mementos lay around the floor. Somehow it felt like he was still here, like he was seconds away from jumping out of the shadows to yell at Iisska for being there or to spring some ridiculous and horrifying training drill on him. But it felt so empty. Zen was really gone.
He couldn’t be gone for very long though. He would be back. He had probably just gone to explore, to get adjusted to the world, to deal with the disconnection of the Force. He would be back. After he was done with whatever it was he was doing he would be back. He had to come back. It would only be a few days. A couple weeks at most.
A couple weeks at most, Iisska told himself as he left the room.
His head was spinning. He needed a bath. He needed to think. He needed to get organized. He needed to lay down. In a daze, he found his way to his own room and stripped off his jacket as he walked through the door and tossed it aside. They could hold the place down without Zen. They had done it before. It would be fine. After shutting the door and making sure it was locked he kicked off his boots and went to go throw himself on his bed. He wouldn’t worry about it. Soon everything would be back to normal. Iisska froze.
There in the center of the bed was a saber hilt.
He immediately recognized it. For what seemed like forever, he stood still and stared down at the thing. It belonged to Zen. He cherished those sabers like a part of himself. He wouldn’t just leave one behind. Not like this. But then again, they didn’t even work here. In this place they were just junk. Useless junk. No need to carry around dead weight. Iisska bent and picked it up. He turned it over in his hands. His fingertips ran over every detail. In his head he was millions of miles away in a different time.
It would be best if you didn’t come back. Ever.
What do you mean ‘no?’ You don’t even care, do you? Don’t give me your naive moral crap. If you’re not going to stand with me on this, then I don’t need you. I had better never see you again.
Oh, cutie, I know you want to help, but I can’t take you with me. These people, these jobs, this life, it would eat you alive. I need to work alone. To be honest, you’d just be dead weight. I’m sorry. Good luck out there.
Zen wasn’t planning on coming back. He had taken what he needed and ditched the rest. What good was a weapon that didn’t work? What good was a student who couldn’t fight? His grip on the saber hilt tightened. His lip curled.
When he had first met Zen he had slammed the man into a wall hard enough to leave a dent without even touching him. He remembered the look of sheer delight and excitement on his face when he exclaimed something about Iisska having, “the crazy gene.” The look of pride when he managed to get the unbridled wrecking-ball of his abilities under control on Bespin. When he insisted he be there with him in the fight on Geonosia.
Every time he needed them the most, they left.
“WELL FUCK YOU TOO!!” Iisska screamed.
He wheeled around and hurled the saber down into a chest next to his own hilt, the rough crystal he had never managed to cut, and hundreds of shattered shards. A testament to his failure. He slammed the lid shut and gave it hard kick into the wall.
“I DON’T NEED YOU, OR YOUR DAMN LEFT-OVERS, OR YOUR STUPID TRAINING!! ENJOY YOUR LIFE, JACKASS!!”
Iisska stormed out of his room and started running. Kobel caught up with him a few hundred yards away from the ship, but he didn’t stop. He didn’t stop until he was well out of sight of the ship, his lungs burned and stabbed with each breath and his legs refused to move anymore.
In the morning the rain was coming down in miserable bucket-fulls. Nobody was leaving the ship unless they wanted to play slip ‘n slide in the muddy swamp that was forming around the shore. Which is exactly what Iisska looked like he had been doing earlier. Bare footprints were tracked up the better part of the loading bay and bits of mud were showing up in most maintenance panels. Deep in the bowels of the ship the sounds of a blow torch had been churning away for a couple hours now. Hidden away behind piles of salvage he crouched, half-dressed, over severed fuel conduits that were slowly but surely being welded back together. He was caked in grime and drying mud from foot to mid thigh and in a thin smudged layer over the rest of him. He refused to look at the burned mess that was the rest of the engines. One step at a time. Build from the ground up. Don’t think about it.
Most of the morning, Cynthia had been trying to tidy up and clean up the mess from yesterday’s haul and the boys’ haul of wood, but she had been rather aimless. After her dress had been ruined by the bandits from the previous day, Nyrette had loaned her a pair of old clothing that barely fit her. Black and yellow in color, she felt a bit disgusting wearing it but it would do for the moment.
She was near the hanger when she started hearing the blowtorch from a back hallway. Curiosity overwhelmed her and she went into the hallway, navigating into the deeper parts of the ship. Much of the walls had been repaired and much of the wiring had been fixed up as well. Deeper in though, she would start seeing holes in the walls and ceiling, letting in drops of rain occasionally. She was in the back of the ship now, the more dangerous area where the most damage was done when it was hit by the hunter’s ship. At one point she came upon a very large hole that was big enough for her to crawl through, though she refused the thought.
She gazed through the hole for a small time, watching Cheshik out on the shore of the lake giving snickers a bath and wrestling with her. Her viewing of the tender moment between the two was broken when she heard a loud bang and what sounded like a yell. She recognized the voice of Iisska and the fact that he said a word, but it was in an unknown language. She hurried along and found him working on patching up some large hunk of metal. A few signs strewn about on the walls said that it was something called the “Power converter” but the words were lost to her. She approached him and called out as he went back to work, but he didn’t seem to hear her.
She got a little closer and tapped him on his shoulder. He jumped, yelling, and dropped the heavy blowtorch onto his foot, which made him call out in pain and grab his foot. He looked up to Cynthia and glared before kneeling down to get the blowtorch, but finding that Cynthia already had it. She handed it to him gently and he snatched the still active torch from her harshly. He asked what the hell she wanted.
“I...wanted to apologize.” She said, though he didn’t respond in any other way than taking off his goggles and sizing her up with an angry scowl.
“For the previous morning…” She continued. “I did not know you wanted peace. With your weapons and bodies I...thought you wished to fight first and ask questions later not…” She stuttered as her face flushed.
“Can’t ask questions after when everybody’s in ribbons can you?” Iisska asked.
“I...I...well…” She stuttered and tripped over her words, unable to make an excuse for her actions.
While shaking his head he turned away from her and was about to slide the goggles back on. Then he hesitated.
“No. You saved us… I guess. Just wanted things to go different,” he said, “I don’t really know how though. Guess it would have ended the same if you didn’t do anything.”
It was difficult for her to formulate the words that were going through her mind, the mixture of regret and shame she was feeling was forming a knot in her throat. It was a few moments before she choked out a response worthy enough of possibly satisfying the Togruta. “I’ll try and be more...peaceful in the future.” She felt the words of Luke in the back of her head reminding her that what she just said was impossible. “I promise.”
“Tch, like I could do anything about it,” he said, “Don’t worry about it. You always get all wishy-washy when people disagree with you?”
“Comes with the shame, I guess,” She relaxed a little. “So...don’t take this the wrong way but...what race are you?”
“Race?” Iisska risked a confused glance back at her.
“Erm...Nyrette is Human, Cheshik is...erm. Cheshik. I am Haemonculus.” She replied, trying her best to convey the word correctly. “I will be honest, I don’t know what Cheshik is.”
“Oh, oh ho ho,” he chuckled, “You mean ‘species.’ Cheshik is Trandoshan. I’m Togruta. If that means anything here.”
“You are outlander, it...means a lot.” She smiled. “Do you have a language?” She wondered.
“T- Ta,” he smirked, “Eedk ch uung gaadrii ne.”
“Eedk ch...uung gaadrii...ne?” She repeated massively incorrectly. “How do you say it like that?”
It was impossible for him to stop the highly amused snickering that was shaking him up now.
“Humans always sound like they’re talking with a stuffy nose,” he explained, “Homuncleehhwatevers, too, I guess. Heh. You can’t help it.”
She came a little closer and placed a hand on the back of his head. He immediately stiffened and cringed away. “Hold still…” She said, closing her eyes. She placed her free hand over her neck, followed by a light humming and a dim light. She backed up and spoke the words again. “Eedk ch uung gaadii ne.” She said flawlessly. Her voice was a bit different now as she spoke. “A trick that haemonculi practice so that we may assist all the species of Eos.”
Iisska visibly shuddered and shied away from her when she was done. He rubbed the back of his head and stood up, putting his back against the wall and his eyes mostly on the floor.
“That’s…,” he mumbled, “weird. How did you… How!?”
“I sort of just do.” She cleared her throat as she adjusted to the manipulated sinus and throat muscles. “I suppose it is the same way my body just knows how to shapeshift. I can’t really explain it.”
“Just do?” he asked, “Like any part of you?”
She nodded and held out her hand, shifting it into the shape of his blowtorch and back, then shifting her head into what she assumed was the female version of a Togruta, though the strain made her return to her original shape. “It can be difficult for me to maintain...I’m not that strong of a Haemonculus.”
He whispered the word a couple of times trying to get the sound right and commit it to memory, meanwhile watching what was a completely grotesque display. Disgust twisted his face.
“Haemonculus,” he finally choked out with more confidence, “... Please don’t do that again.”
“Done.” She smiled. “I am keeping the internal changes though. I...kind of like the voice.”
He nodded, “Sounds cool… fuller. Suits you.”
“Thank you.” She said, feeling a lot of the worry strip away. “So...what is off planet like? Wait, you have work to do...can I help or…?”
“Eh, it- it all sucks, not really worth talking about,” Iisska shrugged, “And yeah, work.”
He looked around the trashed engine room rubbing his neck and searching for something to suggest or say at all.
“Th- there’s not really… Unless you know how to… n- no… I don’t think. I don’t know. It’s not like cleaning a room or taking out the trash. Not that you can’t help or that I don’t want help, it’s just…” he trailed off.
“What?” She questioned. “I am able to learn, what you’re doing...um, Quin mentioned it...Engineering. It’s really fascinating.”
“I guess?” he shrugged, “It’s a job? You build cool shit- stuff? If you can learn, um, great. I don’t think I can teach you though.”
“You really don’t have to. I’m a visual learne-” Before she could even finish her sentence, the two were knocked to the ground by the ship rocking to the side then back. A huge groaning rippled through the ship as it threatened to fall to the earth again. From down the hall they could hear a mumbled echo.
“Kobel! Naughty puppy! Bad beastie! No toy playing for you now! To corner!”
The two got up and ran down the hall.
“OH, COME ON!” Iisska yelled as they turned the curve in the tight corridor.
He came to a stop and sighed. Kobel was wedged firmly into a hole that had been punched through the side of the ship in the crash and forcibly squirmed his way through it, grunting and whining and snarling. His hips and back legs popped through and he squished himself inside, happily wiggling and drooling with a large ball in his mouth. He paced around in a circle looking out of the hole and whining more. Then he saw his master. They both froze. Then the massive beast bolted forward.
“KOBEL NO!” Iisska and Cynthia tried to yell as fiercely as one can when cowering behind their arms and seeing their life flash before their eyes.
The huge akk dog came to a halt at the last second and lowered himself, gently nuzzling into Iisska’s stomach. He let out a sigh of relief and dug his fingertips deep under the scale plates behind Kobel’s ear.
“I’m sorry. He’s… playful. Getting better though,” he told Cynthia.
From behind, the two could hear a couple claws scraping lightly against metal before Cheshik’s head popped up over Kobel’s back. “Oh. Sorry. Threw ball weeniest bit too hard,” He chuckled.
“At. The. Ship?” Cynthia sounded angry. “At. The. Ship?”
Cheshik looked a little nervous but laughed it off. “No. It bounced off of tree and got in hole. Kobel good at tracking. I will patch up in while.”
“No. Cheshik will patch up now.” Cynthia mocked him. “Iisska and I can take a break from the work.” She smiled and waited for Iisska.
“Awwwuh. Was having fun.” Cheshik said sadly before sliding off of Kobel’s back. “Where is blow torch…” He said sadly.
“Break? Wait! Cheshik, no,” Iisska crossed his arms, “There’s a hammer, bolts and a riveter in there somewhere. Just patch. I’ll do the rest. Understand?” Cheshik didn’t hear him fully over Kobel’s panting and his words were wasted.
“Cheshik!” Isska snapped.
“Iisska. He’s already gone.” Cynthia said, squatting down. “He’ll be fine. His patches don’t seem...bad. Then again, I’m not sure what he has patched in the past.”
“Nothing!” Iisska threw his hands up, “He’s going to butcher himself.”
“Can always ask Quin to help.” She said.
“Never.”
MEANWHILE
Laying together, holding one another in bed, stark naked but covered up, Quin and Nyrette held each other, pressing their foreheads against one another. “Well?” Nyrette said.
Quin could barely breathe or move. Her chest heaved, gently with the effort. Her eyes couldn’t focus through the burning heat still coursing through every inch of her body. She groaned.
“I…” Quin tried to speak, “um…”
For the first time she was at a loss for words.
“The ship rocking definitely didn’t help your situation.” She chuckled.
Quin was coming to her senses and slowly the memory of the exact moment returned to her. She quivered.
“Ooh, nooo,” she moaned, “Th-that wasn’t us… was it?”
“No. Pretty sure it was something Iisska did. Blame him. It’s easier.” She kissed Quin’s forehead.
“Ugh,” Quin’s nose scrunched up, “Let’s not bring that up.”
Quin squirmed and tangled herself and her lover tighter into the bed sheets and pulled Nyrette in to herself tightly. There she trapped her in her arms and nuzzled her neck.
“Just you and me.”
“Just how I like it.” She smiled and sighed happily.
MEANVHILE INZE DOCTOR’S LAB
Marquis came running down the now slightly askew ship ramp. “I am going to bloody kill you for bloody breaking the bloody ship again, Iisska!” He came around the back of the ship and saw Cynthia, Iisska, and Kobel standing outside the hole in the ship. “HOW?!” He yelled and stopped up to them. “THE SHIP IS TWENTY FEET IN THE AIR. BLOODY HOW?!”
“Geh,” Iisska shrugged, “Fifteen now.”
Marquis’ eye turned bright red as he threatened to back hand Iisska right across the face. “Cynthia. Explain.”
“It’s Cheshik’s fault.” She admitted.
“I still blame you.” Marquis pointed at Iisska and went off to find Cheshik.
“THE FUCK DID I DO?” Iisska yelled after him.
“Iisska...What does that word mean?” Cynthia questioned.
“What? ‘Fuck’?” he asked.
She nodded.
“To have… You know… s- sex?” he said sheepishly. He could feel the blood rushing to his head, “but it’s mostly a… trash word I guess. You can use it for everything. I might use it too much.”
“Think I’m going to just not let that word permeate my vocabulary.” She said flatly. “Sounds...as you said. Trashy. Like a filler word.”
“It’s kinda fun though. Try it.”
“Fuck.” She said and coughed afterward. “Just feels trashy too. Not going to ask you about those kinds of words in the future.”
“Too bad,” he said, “You’re missing out on a lot of fun words.”
“I’m sure you’ll force it down my throat in time and I’ll be forced to learn to just accept it.” She resigned to the fact.
Iisska’s eyes widened and for a few very awkward moments all he could do was purse his lips softly and stare directly at the floor. The wonderful shades of red and blue he was turning were not helping the mental situation he found himself in.
Cheshik broke the silence then by coming back to the hole with a horribly fit welding mask on top of his head. “Phrasing, Cynthia.” He said before hefting a piece of the metal and started welding away. “You are lucky Cheshik had to fix metal armor before as mercenary.” He said while Cynthia realized what she said and blushed.
“GREAT!” Iisska jumped, “So how about, shut up? And also help me with the repairs sometime? Like now. I have to go do ship. I mean repairs. On the ship.”
He strode down the hall quickly, keeping his eyes down.
He looked down to Cynthia and back to Iisska down the hall. “Does Iisska not know we have only single blow torch?” He chuckled.
“Guess not.” She shook her head.
“I TOLD YOU IT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS GOING TO COLLAPSE!” Tristan screamed.
The twins sprinted down the loading bay ramp faster than they had ever sprinted. They came to a sliding stop in the mud outside and stared back at the sadly tilting ship. There was a slight groan from her undercarriage as things readjusted, but afterward there was nothing. Nothing but the rain. And distant angry yelling.
“It’s not collapsing,” Luke gasped between panicked breaths.
“OH, REALLY?” Tristan snapped, “Wait a tick. I don’t trust it. It’s been growling and roaring and making horrible noise all morning.”
“It’s not alive,” Luke argued.
“We don’t know that.”
“It’s cold and raining. We should go back.”
Tristan glared at his brother and walked away slowly. Instead of heading back up into the ship he carefully circumnavigated her. His eyes traced up and down every part with the utmost scrutiny. Luke shivered and looked up into the entrance, then at Tristan, then back. He groaned and shivered and followed his brother off to wherever he was going.
On the other side of the ship Snickers was sitting on the ground. Then she got up, flicked her tail back and forth, circled and looked up at the side of the ship with much anticipation. Tristan hurried over to her and reached out slowly until his fingers entwined in the mane along her spine and he started scratching tenderly. Luke’s attention was drawn up the side of the ship to the gaping series of holes in the hull.
“What in the--” he mumbled.
Then he saw someone moving up there along with mysterious metallic banging and clanging.
“Oi! What the hell is going on?” he yelled up.
Cheshik poked his head from around the corner and grabbed the welding mask off the top of his face, taking it off. “Had too much fun, Kobel broke wall. All is well.”
“So that horrible noise?” Luke asked.
“It is metal creaking. It is normal. Will fix in time. If not, we do opposite of raise with other legs and figure out fix later,” He chuckled.
Luke turned to Tristan and raised a brow, “It’s not collapsing.”
All he got back was a dirty look.
“Need us to do anything?” Tristan asked, “Help? Cooking, cleaning? More soaking wet firewood?”
“Mmm…” He thought about it for a moment. “Play with snickers. She bored, careful though. She like rough house and wrestling. Don’t break bone.”
Cheshik’s suggestion was met with a simultaneous, “Uuhhh…”
“Or be chicken and go clean up debris in engine room. Be guest.” He snorted
“Pardon me, SIR,” Tristan rolled his eyes, “Do we look chicken to you? Don’t answer that, but I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW we’d never shy away from such a worthy and exciting task such as-- Wait! Luke where are you going!?”
“Engine room,” Luke said.
“I was just thinking that chicken would be delicious lunch.” Cheshik laughed. “Bark bark” He failed.
Tristan narrowed his eyes in confusion and his jaw hung open for a second. Then he cleared his throat and straightened.
“You dare mock me!?” he laughed.
And just to prove the point he had been getting at he ran at Snickers ready to go in for the tackle. Snickers made a noise and turned on a dime, lashing out with her tail. Tristan was caught square in the chest and before he could even register what had just happened he was going head over heels through the mud into the underbrush on the edge of the trees. In the distance, he could hear the Trandoshan dropping his tools and laughing too hard to breathe.
With a groan and a wild throwing about of his arms and legs to find any kind of leverage to pull himself upright in this incessantly spinning world, Tristan rolled out of the bushes on all fours and caught his breath in gasps.
He sprinted at her again and actually got close to the Varactyl. She turned and looked at him for a second as he jumped into the air before snatching him out of the air with her powerful jaws. Suddenly, he found himself halfway in her mouth finding out that her teeth were retractable and that Varactyl spit tasted like spoiled milk. He heard a rumble that almost sounded like laughter before she started to flail him around wildly accompanied by his screams before she flung him over shoulder and into the lake.
A few bubbles found their way up to the surface after the splash subsided, followed by the gasping and screaming human coming up after them. He floundered his way to the shore where he stomped back up the sands cursing under his breath, but smiling just a little. He rubbed out his neck.
“Oh, that’s whiplash,” he moaned, “Do you have to be so rough?”
“Do not mind her!” Cheshik yelled from the ship. “She is used to wrestling with the strong!” He laughed.
Tristan glared daggers back up at the ship. He spit lake water out on the ground and cracked his back. Then he carefully paced around Snickers, hands out stretched.
“Come on now, you’re a good girl right? Maybe we can do this without killing me? Eh?” he asked.
She flicked out her tongue like she was mocking him and inviting him to do something. As he went around in circles she turned with him as if saying “Come on, ginger. Do it.”
He waited until he was a bit closer to her. He didn’t take his eyes off hers. Then he lunged as hard and as fast as he could and latched onto her neck with all his strength. There he struggled to throw her, or turn her, or move her, or even budge her in the slightest.
She sort of just didn’t move as the human tried to budge her with all his might. She looked over to Cheshik, whom was watching with glee. She shook her head a bit and let the human dangle from the bottom before yawning and placing her head on the ground on top of Tristain, pinning him with her weight.
Tristan’s breath surged out of his body in one horrible gasp and he writhed under Snickers and tried in vain to push her off. She moved just enough to allow him to breathe but after a few more minutes of sucking air and struggling he finally gave up and just lay in the mud staring up at the sky.
“Fine,” he wheezed, “You win. Happy?”
All he could feel was a deep purring in her throat.
Cheshik was laughing way too hard to be doing any sort of work at all. Iisska cleaned up what he was doing and padded down the corridor without a sound, to where Cheshik was practically rolling on the ground. He crossed his arms and frowned.
“Wow!” Iisska shouted, “Nice job patching the hull, Cheshik!”
Cheshik, on the floor laughing at Tristain, looked up at Iisska and kept laughing, getting up slowly as he did. “C-Come on. Look at Treestan. You would laugh at too.” He pointed at the Human still trying to wiggle his way out.
Iisska’s eyes went wide and he dropped his arms. He placed a hand on the edge of the hole and leaned out trying to get a better look at the man who looked like he had just returned from a battlefield.
“Ah, is he okay?” Iisska asked.
“Probably.” Cheshik snorted before picking up the torch and getting back to work. “Should be done in hour or two.”
“Mm, okay. Try not to kill him. I need to go find Marquis. Will catch up with you later,” Iisska said.
He gave one last look outside to make sure the human wasn’t actually dead already and continued to the upper decks of the ship. Once up there he realized he had no idea where Marquis actually was.
“HEY STERLING!” he started yelling, “STERLING!”
Poking his head out of his bedroom door, Marquis stared Iisska down, clearly angry. “What?”
“Oh! Eh, hi. I mean, there you are. I mean I was just wanting to ask about, ah, powerflow… To the A.I. core. Any… thing?” Iisska fumbled the words out.
“Iisska. Slow down. Use your words like a big Togruta.” Marquis sighed.
“Do we have power to the A.I. core yet?” he growled, “To the system alerts, to repair bots, to the dash, anything? … Trin?”
“No. All those are controlled by her subsystems. We can have all the bloody power in the world and not a bloody thing to do with with it if she’s damaged, which she is.” He said darkly.
Iisska sighed. His shoulders dropped. He bit his lip. But didn’t take his eyes off Marquis. He thought for a moment.
“We’re going to fix her too,” he said quietly, “With how bad things are, that will be next… Are you… Are you good?”
“To be frank. No. I’m afraid and that does not happen. I do not like it.” He said, seeming like he wanted to stop the conversation. Cynthia rounded the corner then, going on her rounds when she saw the two and greeted them.
“Hello again, Iisska. Good morning Marquis.” She said happily, though Marquis didn’t appear to be pleased to have more company. “Um…”
“Do not ask.” He said bluntly. “Really not in the mood.”
“Then might I suggest a walk? The rain has cleared up a little and you seem like you could use the stress relief.” She smiled.
“I am not stressed.”
“Then anger relief,” Iisska said, “Or you could hide in the ship for a few more weeks.”
He was silent for a few moments before he went back in the room and came out with his coat. “Lets get this over with.” He spat out.
“Oh goodie!” Cynthia said before falling in line with the boys.
“I can still return to the room, Cynthia.” He said.
“Noted.” She pursed her lips.
The rain had indeed stopped and left a peaceful overcast and misty day in its wake. Everything still smelled of rain though and the moisture helped bring out the brilliant green of the trees. For the first few minutes of the exodus no one said anything. But it was a welcome silent. Iisska struggled to remember the last time any of them had kicked back and done nothing. Or just done something to relax without the fear of agonizing death looming over them. There was still more fear among them than the crew could rightly deal with, but it was fear of the unknown and fear of loss more than a fear of an untimely, extremely painful and ultimately horrifying end to everything. He shoved such thoughts away and occupied himself with looking up at the canopy and trying to spot birds and small animals.
“I think I could get used to this place. Not so bad with no asshole natives around,” he snorted.
Then he balked and shot a glance at Cynthia.
“Not you though! The other people. Like in the city. You’re not an asshole,” he said quickly.
‘Smooooth.” Marquis said.
“Um...thank you?” Cynthia said with a raised eyebrow. “You aren’t an asshole either?” She said, not knowing what asshole meant.
“Ah, thanks…” Iisska replied.
There was a long, uncomfortable pause before he tried to break the silence again.
“This was a good idea. Nice out here, right?”
“Depends on the weather.” Marquis said.
“What is wrong, Marquis?” Cynthia asked suddenly.
Marquis was silent for a few minutes, his eye shifting colors from yellow to blue and back again before settling on some horrid mixture.
“Have you ever taken one side of a balance scale away and let the other side plummet?” He said finally. “I do not have my balance. I do not know if she will be alright or if she will come back differently. I am scared and cannot find a way out of it.”
“She is coming back,” Isska said.
“When? How? Nobody on the crew knows how to fix an A.I. core. If she does come back, will she recognize us? Is her memory going to come back intact, is she even going to want-” Cynthia grabbed him then, turning him towards her.
“It’ll be alright.” She exclaimed. “She will be fine.”
Iisska stood behind Cynthia, “You sound like you already gave up.”
“I have only had to deal with fear three times in my entire existence. I do not know how to cope.” He said solumnly.
“That is why we are here.” Cynthia said, smirking. “To help shoulder the burden. Even if one of us is going through the same feelings of fear.”
“Hey, I know we’re weird and fight a lot, but you don’t have to be scared,” Iisska slapped her on the back, “We got ya’. Same to you Sterling. Big scary assassin or not, life is scary. Things always seem to work out though.”
Marquis chuckled a little, feeling reassured by the two as they stood next to the lake. Rain was starting to fall again. “Sounds like you are in the same boat, Iisska.”
He looked confused, “What boat?”
“The same situation. Zen.” He explained.
Iisska bit his lip and looked at Marquis for slightly too long, like he was trying to drill into his skull. Then he looked away with a shrug and a smirk and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Eh. Zen can handle himself,” He said, “He didn’t really have a reason to stick around anyway.”
“Now that is bullshit.” Marquis said bluntly.
“Zen is the man that was in a coma, correct?” Cynthia asked.
“Yes. That man is Iisska’s mentor. That man loves you, Iisska.” He said. “He has more than enough reasons to stick around.”
Iisska actually laughed and shook his head, “No he doesn’t. Seriously. It’s okay. I’m over it. You guys ready to head back?”
“Iisska.”
“Sterling,” he shot back, “People walk out on you sometimes. Nothing to be done about it.”
“Then why did he leave you his saber?”
“Because it doesn’t work. It’s useless.”
“Have you tried it?”
“No. Nothing works here. Why would I?”
“Wouldn’t hurt.” Marquis crossed his arms.
“I agree. I would like to see if it works.” Cynthia said somewhat excitedly.
“Whatever! If you guys wanna stand around and watch me push a button, that’s your loss,” Iisska huffed, “It’s not gonna work.”
“Want to bet? I am willing to.” Marquis said.
“With what? We got nothing to bet with.”
“Well…”Marquis started.
“If it works, I will go into town and purchase new clothing.” Cynthia said abruptly. Both Iisska and Marquis gave her a sideways glance of confusion.
“No. You’re going to buy new clothes anyway. You can’t keep wearing that,” Iisska argued. He was blushing furiously.
“WELL. If it does not work, I will show you everything I know in hand-to-hand combat.” He said, silencing Cynthia for a few moments.
“I… Hmm,” Iisska thought about it for a moment, “That would be… Alright! And if the damn thing turns on, Sterling… you… you have to… Ah… Teach me that hand-to-hand stuff anyway. And you!” he looked at Cynthia and rubbed his chin, “I pick out the clothes.”
Marquis stared at him for a minute, taken aback by the sudden perverted stance, but shook his head. “Could have just asked me to give you hand to hand training, you know…well, lead the way, I have a bet to lose according to you.”
“Yeah you do!” Iisska grinned.
“SON OF A BITCH!”
The darksaber was nearly sent flying across the room when Iisska jumped back from the fully ignited blade in his hand. The blade was so black that no light reflected off of it. Yet it crackled and hummed with a foreign energy. Now the three of them stood in his quarters standing around it with looks of bewilderment. Except for Marquis who looked rather pleased with himself.
“Well would you lo-” Marquis started.
“FUCK.” Cynthia cursed, startled by the blade.
The two of them looked at her quietly with vacant expressions.
“I told you it was fun,” Iisska chuckled.
“I’m glad you’re not choosing my clothing.” She said, staring at the blade.
“Come on!” he threw his hands up, “I’m not gonna make you wear anything stupid. Just not so tight. How are you even comfortable?”
“I am really not.” She admitted.
“I can see why she doesn’t want you to choose her clothing.” Marquis said, “She would rather myself choose because you are not as fashionable as myself.” He beamed.
“I know about fashion!” Iisska said, standing there, caked in mud, barefoot and dressed in oil-stained cargos that were more hole than fabric at this point, “Can I at least supervise?”
She stared at him for several moments before she finally resigned. “Fine. You may see them after I get them, but I get to choose them.”
“Iisska. you sad, sad, little Togruta.” Marquis shook his head.
“I’m not sad,” Iisska said through clenched teeth.
“Seems like you are more ‘Excited’ than sad, actually.” He said.
“Excited about the sword? Yeah! Pretty pissed off about the jerks in my room though.”
“Oh.” Nyrette echoed Iisska’s reaction. “He just...took off?”
“That is the gist of it, yes.” Marquis sighed.
“Did he say anything?” Iisska asked, “At all?”
“No. The ramp lowered while I was out here cleaning up and before it even touched down he took off on his speeder. I never had the chance to ask him where he was going,” said Marquis.
“If it isn’t one thing then it’s another,” Quin shrugged, “I’m sure he’ll return soon… With half the country chasing down his head.”
“Or more drunk than Cheshik on his birthday,” Nyrette chuckled and went back to gathering up the supplies and organizing them in the ship.
“What in the shitting hell is that?” Tristan spewed, standing some safe distance away from the pile of twisted metal that used to be the Harpoon, “Don’t tell me you live in that thing. It looks like it’s going to collapse.”
“Do not be rude, stranger.” Marquis quipped upon hearing the insult. “Iisska has done a good job with the ship. Also. Quin. Who are they? I thought I said no more pets. We have enough mouths to feed.” Marquis crossed his arms.
“Yes. I agree. Iisska already eats more than Kobel.” Nyrette chuckled as she walked past with an arm full of alcohol.
“Mm,” Quin turned toward the twins, “A couple of hooligans our boys took an interest in and had Nyrette, Cynthia and myself arrested over. They insisted they meet you.”
The one with a beard had seemed to magically appear between Quin and Marquis and was offering the droid a hand to shake while his eyes darted all over his frame. The other remained behind but gawked at Marquis in a way that was excruciatingly uncomfortable.
“You’re the golem thing! Not like any I’ve ever heard of, but still,” Tristan blurted out.”
“What in the bloody hell is a golem?” Marquis questioned, “This one of them, Quin?”
She nodded and smirked.
“Excellent.” He held up his hand and flicked Tristan in the forehead. “Baaack with you. Back.” He flicked him again.
“Ow!” Tristan reeled back, “Ow! Damn it! What crawled up your arse!?”
“My fiance is unpowered and now the ship is too crowded to think straight. What do you think ‘crawled up me arse’” Marquis’ eye turned orange-ish red from the annoyance. “Plus, you and your rather dour looking brother behind you imprisoned my crewmates, So you deserved it.”
“Truth be told, the guards imprisoned them,” Tristan said well out of flicking range, “And we wouldn’t be here if stripes over there hadn’t tried to choke me out in the street.”
From inside the ship, Cheshik came strolling down with a towel wrapped around his waist. He joined the group, catching the last bit of what Tristan said. “To be fair.” He started. “You broke faces on one another in street. Both blames are on you and Iisska. Speaking which. Iisska?’ He waved his hand in front of the Togruta’s face. “You there, brother?”
“Don’t,” Iisska mumbled and stepped away. His gaze was finally broken from some fixed point in the distance, “You two. You know this place. You wanna stay, you want safety in numbers, you wanna wander around our stuff like tourists, then you work and you play nice. So sick of this shit.”
Nyrette came back out for a third trip, grabbing Quin by the arm out of a bit of annoyance so she could stop standing around and actually help put all the stuff in the fridge in the lounge. “And don’t even think of using the showers. Especially ours. One bit of boy-sauce in my shower and I’ll cut somebody.” Nyrette threatened.
“Deal,” Luke agreed.
“What’s a shower?” Tristan asked no one in particular.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Luke gave a short bow to Marquis and ignored the question, “What can we help with?”
Cheshik scooted away holding the towel up and came back a few moments later with two makeshift fireaxes. “We require wood that which is used for fire. Onward you go.” He handed over the axes.
“Ah,” Tristan grimaced and took the axe, “Right. Eh, we’re on it then! So, where are your clothes?”
“Can Trandoshan not enjoy time with toga towel?” Cheshik shrugged.
“Nnggehh, I suppose?” He backed away slowly, even more confused than before.
Luke was already long gone into the woods. Tristan quickly strode away in the wrong direction.
Inside the Harpoon, Iisska threw the door to Zen’s quarters off its runners. The bed was empty. Dressers and chests were left open and disheveled. An assortment of garments and various mementos lay around the floor. Somehow it felt like he was still here, like he was seconds away from jumping out of the shadows to yell at Iisska for being there or to spring some ridiculous and horrifying training drill on him. But it felt so empty. Zen was really gone.
He couldn’t be gone for very long though. He would be back. He had probably just gone to explore, to get adjusted to the world, to deal with the disconnection of the Force. He would be back. After he was done with whatever it was he was doing he would be back. He had to come back. It would only be a few days. A couple weeks at most.
A couple weeks at most, Iisska told himself as he left the room.
His head was spinning. He needed a bath. He needed to think. He needed to get organized. He needed to lay down. In a daze, he found his way to his own room and stripped off his jacket as he walked through the door and tossed it aside. They could hold the place down without Zen. They had done it before. It would be fine. After shutting the door and making sure it was locked he kicked off his boots and went to go throw himself on his bed. He wouldn’t worry about it. Soon everything would be back to normal. Iisska froze.
There in the center of the bed was a saber hilt.
He immediately recognized it. For what seemed like forever, he stood still and stared down at the thing. It belonged to Zen. He cherished those sabers like a part of himself. He wouldn’t just leave one behind. Not like this. But then again, they didn’t even work here. In this place they were just junk. Useless junk. No need to carry around dead weight. Iisska bent and picked it up. He turned it over in his hands. His fingertips ran over every detail. In his head he was millions of miles away in a different time.
It would be best if you didn’t come back. Ever.
What do you mean ‘no?’ You don’t even care, do you? Don’t give me your naive moral crap. If you’re not going to stand with me on this, then I don’t need you. I had better never see you again.
Oh, cutie, I know you want to help, but I can’t take you with me. These people, these jobs, this life, it would eat you alive. I need to work alone. To be honest, you’d just be dead weight. I’m sorry. Good luck out there.
Zen wasn’t planning on coming back. He had taken what he needed and ditched the rest. What good was a weapon that didn’t work? What good was a student who couldn’t fight? His grip on the saber hilt tightened. His lip curled.
When he had first met Zen he had slammed the man into a wall hard enough to leave a dent without even touching him. He remembered the look of sheer delight and excitement on his face when he exclaimed something about Iisska having, “the crazy gene.” The look of pride when he managed to get the unbridled wrecking-ball of his abilities under control on Bespin. When he insisted he be there with him in the fight on Geonosia.
Every time he needed them the most, they left.
“WELL FUCK YOU TOO!!” Iisska screamed.
He wheeled around and hurled the saber down into a chest next to his own hilt, the rough crystal he had never managed to cut, and hundreds of shattered shards. A testament to his failure. He slammed the lid shut and gave it hard kick into the wall.
“I DON’T NEED YOU, OR YOUR DAMN LEFT-OVERS, OR YOUR STUPID TRAINING!! ENJOY YOUR LIFE, JACKASS!!”
Iisska stormed out of his room and started running. Kobel caught up with him a few hundred yards away from the ship, but he didn’t stop. He didn’t stop until he was well out of sight of the ship, his lungs burned and stabbed with each breath and his legs refused to move anymore.
In the morning the rain was coming down in miserable bucket-fulls. Nobody was leaving the ship unless they wanted to play slip ‘n slide in the muddy swamp that was forming around the shore. Which is exactly what Iisska looked like he had been doing earlier. Bare footprints were tracked up the better part of the loading bay and bits of mud were showing up in most maintenance panels. Deep in the bowels of the ship the sounds of a blow torch had been churning away for a couple hours now. Hidden away behind piles of salvage he crouched, half-dressed, over severed fuel conduits that were slowly but surely being welded back together. He was caked in grime and drying mud from foot to mid thigh and in a thin smudged layer over the rest of him. He refused to look at the burned mess that was the rest of the engines. One step at a time. Build from the ground up. Don’t think about it.
Most of the morning, Cynthia had been trying to tidy up and clean up the mess from yesterday’s haul and the boys’ haul of wood, but she had been rather aimless. After her dress had been ruined by the bandits from the previous day, Nyrette had loaned her a pair of old clothing that barely fit her. Black and yellow in color, she felt a bit disgusting wearing it but it would do for the moment.
She was near the hanger when she started hearing the blowtorch from a back hallway. Curiosity overwhelmed her and she went into the hallway, navigating into the deeper parts of the ship. Much of the walls had been repaired and much of the wiring had been fixed up as well. Deeper in though, she would start seeing holes in the walls and ceiling, letting in drops of rain occasionally. She was in the back of the ship now, the more dangerous area where the most damage was done when it was hit by the hunter’s ship. At one point she came upon a very large hole that was big enough for her to crawl through, though she refused the thought.
She gazed through the hole for a small time, watching Cheshik out on the shore of the lake giving snickers a bath and wrestling with her. Her viewing of the tender moment between the two was broken when she heard a loud bang and what sounded like a yell. She recognized the voice of Iisska and the fact that he said a word, but it was in an unknown language. She hurried along and found him working on patching up some large hunk of metal. A few signs strewn about on the walls said that it was something called the “Power converter” but the words were lost to her. She approached him and called out as he went back to work, but he didn’t seem to hear her.
She got a little closer and tapped him on his shoulder. He jumped, yelling, and dropped the heavy blowtorch onto his foot, which made him call out in pain and grab his foot. He looked up to Cynthia and glared before kneeling down to get the blowtorch, but finding that Cynthia already had it. She handed it to him gently and he snatched the still active torch from her harshly. He asked what the hell she wanted.
“I...wanted to apologize.” She said, though he didn’t respond in any other way than taking off his goggles and sizing her up with an angry scowl.
“For the previous morning…” She continued. “I did not know you wanted peace. With your weapons and bodies I...thought you wished to fight first and ask questions later not…” She stuttered as her face flushed.
“Can’t ask questions after when everybody’s in ribbons can you?” Iisska asked.
“I...I...well…” She stuttered and tripped over her words, unable to make an excuse for her actions.
While shaking his head he turned away from her and was about to slide the goggles back on. Then he hesitated.
“No. You saved us… I guess. Just wanted things to go different,” he said, “I don’t really know how though. Guess it would have ended the same if you didn’t do anything.”
It was difficult for her to formulate the words that were going through her mind, the mixture of regret and shame she was feeling was forming a knot in her throat. It was a few moments before she choked out a response worthy enough of possibly satisfying the Togruta. “I’ll try and be more...peaceful in the future.” She felt the words of Luke in the back of her head reminding her that what she just said was impossible. “I promise.”
“Tch, like I could do anything about it,” he said, “Don’t worry about it. You always get all wishy-washy when people disagree with you?”
“Comes with the shame, I guess,” She relaxed a little. “So...don’t take this the wrong way but...what race are you?”
“Race?” Iisska risked a confused glance back at her.
“Erm...Nyrette is Human, Cheshik is...erm. Cheshik. I am Haemonculus.” She replied, trying her best to convey the word correctly. “I will be honest, I don’t know what Cheshik is.”
“Oh, oh ho ho,” he chuckled, “You mean ‘species.’ Cheshik is Trandoshan. I’m Togruta. If that means anything here.”
“You are outlander, it...means a lot.” She smiled. “Do you have a language?” She wondered.
“T- Ta,” he smirked, “Eedk ch uung gaadrii ne.”
“Eedk ch...uung gaadrii...ne?” She repeated massively incorrectly. “How do you say it like that?”
It was impossible for him to stop the highly amused snickering that was shaking him up now.
“Humans always sound like they’re talking with a stuffy nose,” he explained, “Homuncleehhwatevers, too, I guess. Heh. You can’t help it.”
She came a little closer and placed a hand on the back of his head. He immediately stiffened and cringed away. “Hold still…” She said, closing her eyes. She placed her free hand over her neck, followed by a light humming and a dim light. She backed up and spoke the words again. “Eedk ch uung gaadii ne.” She said flawlessly. Her voice was a bit different now as she spoke. “A trick that haemonculi practice so that we may assist all the species of Eos.”
Iisska visibly shuddered and shied away from her when she was done. He rubbed the back of his head and stood up, putting his back against the wall and his eyes mostly on the floor.
“That’s…,” he mumbled, “weird. How did you… How!?”
“I sort of just do.” She cleared her throat as she adjusted to the manipulated sinus and throat muscles. “I suppose it is the same way my body just knows how to shapeshift. I can’t really explain it.”
“Just do?” he asked, “Like any part of you?”
She nodded and held out her hand, shifting it into the shape of his blowtorch and back, then shifting her head into what she assumed was the female version of a Togruta, though the strain made her return to her original shape. “It can be difficult for me to maintain...I’m not that strong of a Haemonculus.”
He whispered the word a couple of times trying to get the sound right and commit it to memory, meanwhile watching what was a completely grotesque display. Disgust twisted his face.
“Haemonculus,” he finally choked out with more confidence, “... Please don’t do that again.”
“Done.” She smiled. “I am keeping the internal changes though. I...kind of like the voice.”
He nodded, “Sounds cool… fuller. Suits you.”
“Thank you.” She said, feeling a lot of the worry strip away. “So...what is off planet like? Wait, you have work to do...can I help or…?”
“Eh, it- it all sucks, not really worth talking about,” Iisska shrugged, “And yeah, work.”
He looked around the trashed engine room rubbing his neck and searching for something to suggest or say at all.
“Th- there’s not really… Unless you know how to… n- no… I don’t think. I don’t know. It’s not like cleaning a room or taking out the trash. Not that you can’t help or that I don’t want help, it’s just…” he trailed off.
“What?” She questioned. “I am able to learn, what you’re doing...um, Quin mentioned it...Engineering. It’s really fascinating.”
“I guess?” he shrugged, “It’s a job? You build cool shit- stuff? If you can learn, um, great. I don’t think I can teach you though.”
“You really don’t have to. I’m a visual learne-” Before she could even finish her sentence, the two were knocked to the ground by the ship rocking to the side then back. A huge groaning rippled through the ship as it threatened to fall to the earth again. From down the hall they could hear a mumbled echo.
“Kobel! Naughty puppy! Bad beastie! No toy playing for you now! To corner!”
The two got up and ran down the hall.
“OH, COME ON!” Iisska yelled as they turned the curve in the tight corridor.
He came to a stop and sighed. Kobel was wedged firmly into a hole that had been punched through the side of the ship in the crash and forcibly squirmed his way through it, grunting and whining and snarling. His hips and back legs popped through and he squished himself inside, happily wiggling and drooling with a large ball in his mouth. He paced around in a circle looking out of the hole and whining more. Then he saw his master. They both froze. Then the massive beast bolted forward.
“KOBEL NO!” Iisska and Cynthia tried to yell as fiercely as one can when cowering behind their arms and seeing their life flash before their eyes.
The huge akk dog came to a halt at the last second and lowered himself, gently nuzzling into Iisska’s stomach. He let out a sigh of relief and dug his fingertips deep under the scale plates behind Kobel’s ear.
“I’m sorry. He’s… playful. Getting better though,” he told Cynthia.
From behind, the two could hear a couple claws scraping lightly against metal before Cheshik’s head popped up over Kobel’s back. “Oh. Sorry. Threw ball weeniest bit too hard,” He chuckled.
“At. The. Ship?” Cynthia sounded angry. “At. The. Ship?”
Cheshik looked a little nervous but laughed it off. “No. It bounced off of tree and got in hole. Kobel good at tracking. I will patch up in while.”
“No. Cheshik will patch up now.” Cynthia mocked him. “Iisska and I can take a break from the work.” She smiled and waited for Iisska.
“Awwwuh. Was having fun.” Cheshik said sadly before sliding off of Kobel’s back. “Where is blow torch…” He said sadly.
“Break? Wait! Cheshik, no,” Iisska crossed his arms, “There’s a hammer, bolts and a riveter in there somewhere. Just patch. I’ll do the rest. Understand?” Cheshik didn’t hear him fully over Kobel’s panting and his words were wasted.
“Cheshik!” Isska snapped.
“Iisska. He’s already gone.” Cynthia said, squatting down. “He’ll be fine. His patches don’t seem...bad. Then again, I’m not sure what he has patched in the past.”
“Nothing!” Iisska threw his hands up, “He’s going to butcher himself.”
“Can always ask Quin to help.” She said.
“Never.”
MEANWHILE
Laying together, holding one another in bed, stark naked but covered up, Quin and Nyrette held each other, pressing their foreheads against one another. “Well?” Nyrette said.
Quin could barely breathe or move. Her chest heaved, gently with the effort. Her eyes couldn’t focus through the burning heat still coursing through every inch of her body. She groaned.
“I…” Quin tried to speak, “um…”
For the first time she was at a loss for words.
“The ship rocking definitely didn’t help your situation.” She chuckled.
Quin was coming to her senses and slowly the memory of the exact moment returned to her. She quivered.
“Ooh, nooo,” she moaned, “Th-that wasn’t us… was it?”
“No. Pretty sure it was something Iisska did. Blame him. It’s easier.” She kissed Quin’s forehead.
“Ugh,” Quin’s nose scrunched up, “Let’s not bring that up.”
Quin squirmed and tangled herself and her lover tighter into the bed sheets and pulled Nyrette in to herself tightly. There she trapped her in her arms and nuzzled her neck.
“Just you and me.”
“Just how I like it.” She smiled and sighed happily.
MEANVHILE INZE DOCTOR’S LAB
Marquis came running down the now slightly askew ship ramp. “I am going to bloody kill you for bloody breaking the bloody ship again, Iisska!” He came around the back of the ship and saw Cynthia, Iisska, and Kobel standing outside the hole in the ship. “HOW?!” He yelled and stopped up to them. “THE SHIP IS TWENTY FEET IN THE AIR. BLOODY HOW?!”
“Geh,” Iisska shrugged, “Fifteen now.”
Marquis’ eye turned bright red as he threatened to back hand Iisska right across the face. “Cynthia. Explain.”
“It’s Cheshik’s fault.” She admitted.
“I still blame you.” Marquis pointed at Iisska and went off to find Cheshik.
“THE FUCK DID I DO?” Iisska yelled after him.
“Iisska...What does that word mean?” Cynthia questioned.
“What? ‘Fuck’?” he asked.
She nodded.
“To have… You know… s- sex?” he said sheepishly. He could feel the blood rushing to his head, “but it’s mostly a… trash word I guess. You can use it for everything. I might use it too much.”
“Think I’m going to just not let that word permeate my vocabulary.” She said flatly. “Sounds...as you said. Trashy. Like a filler word.”
“It’s kinda fun though. Try it.”
“Fuck.” She said and coughed afterward. “Just feels trashy too. Not going to ask you about those kinds of words in the future.”
“Too bad,” he said, “You’re missing out on a lot of fun words.”
“I’m sure you’ll force it down my throat in time and I’ll be forced to learn to just accept it.” She resigned to the fact.
Iisska’s eyes widened and for a few very awkward moments all he could do was purse his lips softly and stare directly at the floor. The wonderful shades of red and blue he was turning were not helping the mental situation he found himself in.
Cheshik broke the silence then by coming back to the hole with a horribly fit welding mask on top of his head. “Phrasing, Cynthia.” He said before hefting a piece of the metal and started welding away. “You are lucky Cheshik had to fix metal armor before as mercenary.” He said while Cynthia realized what she said and blushed.
“GREAT!” Iisska jumped, “So how about, shut up? And also help me with the repairs sometime? Like now. I have to go do ship. I mean repairs. On the ship.”
He strode down the hall quickly, keeping his eyes down.
He looked down to Cynthia and back to Iisska down the hall. “Does Iisska not know we have only single blow torch?” He chuckled.
“Guess not.” She shook her head.
“I TOLD YOU IT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS GOING TO COLLAPSE!” Tristan screamed.
The twins sprinted down the loading bay ramp faster than they had ever sprinted. They came to a sliding stop in the mud outside and stared back at the sadly tilting ship. There was a slight groan from her undercarriage as things readjusted, but afterward there was nothing. Nothing but the rain. And distant angry yelling.
“It’s not collapsing,” Luke gasped between panicked breaths.
“OH, REALLY?” Tristan snapped, “Wait a tick. I don’t trust it. It’s been growling and roaring and making horrible noise all morning.”
“It’s not alive,” Luke argued.
“We don’t know that.”
“It’s cold and raining. We should go back.”
Tristan glared at his brother and walked away slowly. Instead of heading back up into the ship he carefully circumnavigated her. His eyes traced up and down every part with the utmost scrutiny. Luke shivered and looked up into the entrance, then at Tristan, then back. He groaned and shivered and followed his brother off to wherever he was going.
On the other side of the ship Snickers was sitting on the ground. Then she got up, flicked her tail back and forth, circled and looked up at the side of the ship with much anticipation. Tristan hurried over to her and reached out slowly until his fingers entwined in the mane along her spine and he started scratching tenderly. Luke’s attention was drawn up the side of the ship to the gaping series of holes in the hull.
“What in the--” he mumbled.
Then he saw someone moving up there along with mysterious metallic banging and clanging.
“Oi! What the hell is going on?” he yelled up.
Cheshik poked his head from around the corner and grabbed the welding mask off the top of his face, taking it off. “Had too much fun, Kobel broke wall. All is well.”
“So that horrible noise?” Luke asked.
“It is metal creaking. It is normal. Will fix in time. If not, we do opposite of raise with other legs and figure out fix later,” He chuckled.
Luke turned to Tristan and raised a brow, “It’s not collapsing.”
All he got back was a dirty look.
“Need us to do anything?” Tristan asked, “Help? Cooking, cleaning? More soaking wet firewood?”
“Mmm…” He thought about it for a moment. “Play with snickers. She bored, careful though. She like rough house and wrestling. Don’t break bone.”
Cheshik’s suggestion was met with a simultaneous, “Uuhhh…”
“Or be chicken and go clean up debris in engine room. Be guest.” He snorted
“Pardon me, SIR,” Tristan rolled his eyes, “Do we look chicken to you? Don’t answer that, but I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW we’d never shy away from such a worthy and exciting task such as-- Wait! Luke where are you going!?”
“Engine room,” Luke said.
“I was just thinking that chicken would be delicious lunch.” Cheshik laughed. “Bark bark” He failed.
Tristan narrowed his eyes in confusion and his jaw hung open for a second. Then he cleared his throat and straightened.
“You dare mock me!?” he laughed.
And just to prove the point he had been getting at he ran at Snickers ready to go in for the tackle. Snickers made a noise and turned on a dime, lashing out with her tail. Tristan was caught square in the chest and before he could even register what had just happened he was going head over heels through the mud into the underbrush on the edge of the trees. In the distance, he could hear the Trandoshan dropping his tools and laughing too hard to breathe.
With a groan and a wild throwing about of his arms and legs to find any kind of leverage to pull himself upright in this incessantly spinning world, Tristan rolled out of the bushes on all fours and caught his breath in gasps.
He sprinted at her again and actually got close to the Varactyl. She turned and looked at him for a second as he jumped into the air before snatching him out of the air with her powerful jaws. Suddenly, he found himself halfway in her mouth finding out that her teeth were retractable and that Varactyl spit tasted like spoiled milk. He heard a rumble that almost sounded like laughter before she started to flail him around wildly accompanied by his screams before she flung him over shoulder and into the lake.
A few bubbles found their way up to the surface after the splash subsided, followed by the gasping and screaming human coming up after them. He floundered his way to the shore where he stomped back up the sands cursing under his breath, but smiling just a little. He rubbed out his neck.
“Oh, that’s whiplash,” he moaned, “Do you have to be so rough?”
“Do not mind her!” Cheshik yelled from the ship. “She is used to wrestling with the strong!” He laughed.
Tristan glared daggers back up at the ship. He spit lake water out on the ground and cracked his back. Then he carefully paced around Snickers, hands out stretched.
“Come on now, you’re a good girl right? Maybe we can do this without killing me? Eh?” he asked.
She flicked out her tongue like she was mocking him and inviting him to do something. As he went around in circles she turned with him as if saying “Come on, ginger. Do it.”
He waited until he was a bit closer to her. He didn’t take his eyes off hers. Then he lunged as hard and as fast as he could and latched onto her neck with all his strength. There he struggled to throw her, or turn her, or move her, or even budge her in the slightest.
She sort of just didn’t move as the human tried to budge her with all his might. She looked over to Cheshik, whom was watching with glee. She shook her head a bit and let the human dangle from the bottom before yawning and placing her head on the ground on top of Tristain, pinning him with her weight.
Tristan’s breath surged out of his body in one horrible gasp and he writhed under Snickers and tried in vain to push her off. She moved just enough to allow him to breathe but after a few more minutes of sucking air and struggling he finally gave up and just lay in the mud staring up at the sky.
“Fine,” he wheezed, “You win. Happy?”
All he could feel was a deep purring in her throat.
Cheshik was laughing way too hard to be doing any sort of work at all. Iisska cleaned up what he was doing and padded down the corridor without a sound, to where Cheshik was practically rolling on the ground. He crossed his arms and frowned.
“Wow!” Iisska shouted, “Nice job patching the hull, Cheshik!”
Cheshik, on the floor laughing at Tristain, looked up at Iisska and kept laughing, getting up slowly as he did. “C-Come on. Look at Treestan. You would laugh at too.” He pointed at the Human still trying to wiggle his way out.
Iisska’s eyes went wide and he dropped his arms. He placed a hand on the edge of the hole and leaned out trying to get a better look at the man who looked like he had just returned from a battlefield.
“Ah, is he okay?” Iisska asked.
“Probably.” Cheshik snorted before picking up the torch and getting back to work. “Should be done in hour or two.”
“Mm, okay. Try not to kill him. I need to go find Marquis. Will catch up with you later,” Iisska said.
He gave one last look outside to make sure the human wasn’t actually dead already and continued to the upper decks of the ship. Once up there he realized he had no idea where Marquis actually was.
“HEY STERLING!” he started yelling, “STERLING!”
Poking his head out of his bedroom door, Marquis stared Iisska down, clearly angry. “What?”
“Oh! Eh, hi. I mean, there you are. I mean I was just wanting to ask about, ah, powerflow… To the A.I. core. Any… thing?” Iisska fumbled the words out.
“Iisska. Slow down. Use your words like a big Togruta.” Marquis sighed.
“Do we have power to the A.I. core yet?” he growled, “To the system alerts, to repair bots, to the dash, anything? … Trin?”
“No. All those are controlled by her subsystems. We can have all the bloody power in the world and not a bloody thing to do with with it if she’s damaged, which she is.” He said darkly.
Iisska sighed. His shoulders dropped. He bit his lip. But didn’t take his eyes off Marquis. He thought for a moment.
“We’re going to fix her too,” he said quietly, “With how bad things are, that will be next… Are you… Are you good?”
“To be frank. No. I’m afraid and that does not happen. I do not like it.” He said, seeming like he wanted to stop the conversation. Cynthia rounded the corner then, going on her rounds when she saw the two and greeted them.
“Hello again, Iisska. Good morning Marquis.” She said happily, though Marquis didn’t appear to be pleased to have more company. “Um…”
“Do not ask.” He said bluntly. “Really not in the mood.”
“Then might I suggest a walk? The rain has cleared up a little and you seem like you could use the stress relief.” She smiled.
“I am not stressed.”
“Then anger relief,” Iisska said, “Or you could hide in the ship for a few more weeks.”
He was silent for a few moments before he went back in the room and came out with his coat. “Lets get this over with.” He spat out.
“Oh goodie!” Cynthia said before falling in line with the boys.
“I can still return to the room, Cynthia.” He said.
“Noted.” She pursed her lips.
The rain had indeed stopped and left a peaceful overcast and misty day in its wake. Everything still smelled of rain though and the moisture helped bring out the brilliant green of the trees. For the first few minutes of the exodus no one said anything. But it was a welcome silent. Iisska struggled to remember the last time any of them had kicked back and done nothing. Or just done something to relax without the fear of agonizing death looming over them. There was still more fear among them than the crew could rightly deal with, but it was fear of the unknown and fear of loss more than a fear of an untimely, extremely painful and ultimately horrifying end to everything. He shoved such thoughts away and occupied himself with looking up at the canopy and trying to spot birds and small animals.
“I think I could get used to this place. Not so bad with no asshole natives around,” he snorted.
Then he balked and shot a glance at Cynthia.
“Not you though! The other people. Like in the city. You’re not an asshole,” he said quickly.
‘Smooooth.” Marquis said.
“Um...thank you?” Cynthia said with a raised eyebrow. “You aren’t an asshole either?” She said, not knowing what asshole meant.
“Ah, thanks…” Iisska replied.
There was a long, uncomfortable pause before he tried to break the silence again.
“This was a good idea. Nice out here, right?”
“Depends on the weather.” Marquis said.
“What is wrong, Marquis?” Cynthia asked suddenly.
Marquis was silent for a few minutes, his eye shifting colors from yellow to blue and back again before settling on some horrid mixture.
“Have you ever taken one side of a balance scale away and let the other side plummet?” He said finally. “I do not have my balance. I do not know if she will be alright or if she will come back differently. I am scared and cannot find a way out of it.”
“She is coming back,” Isska said.
“When? How? Nobody on the crew knows how to fix an A.I. core. If she does come back, will she recognize us? Is her memory going to come back intact, is she even going to want-” Cynthia grabbed him then, turning him towards her.
“It’ll be alright.” She exclaimed. “She will be fine.”
Iisska stood behind Cynthia, “You sound like you already gave up.”
“I have only had to deal with fear three times in my entire existence. I do not know how to cope.” He said solumnly.
“That is why we are here.” Cynthia said, smirking. “To help shoulder the burden. Even if one of us is going through the same feelings of fear.”
“Hey, I know we’re weird and fight a lot, but you don’t have to be scared,” Iisska slapped her on the back, “We got ya’. Same to you Sterling. Big scary assassin or not, life is scary. Things always seem to work out though.”
Marquis chuckled a little, feeling reassured by the two as they stood next to the lake. Rain was starting to fall again. “Sounds like you are in the same boat, Iisska.”
He looked confused, “What boat?”
“The same situation. Zen.” He explained.
Iisska bit his lip and looked at Marquis for slightly too long, like he was trying to drill into his skull. Then he looked away with a shrug and a smirk and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Eh. Zen can handle himself,” He said, “He didn’t really have a reason to stick around anyway.”
“Now that is bullshit.” Marquis said bluntly.
“Zen is the man that was in a coma, correct?” Cynthia asked.
“Yes. That man is Iisska’s mentor. That man loves you, Iisska.” He said. “He has more than enough reasons to stick around.”
Iisska actually laughed and shook his head, “No he doesn’t. Seriously. It’s okay. I’m over it. You guys ready to head back?”
“Iisska.”
“Sterling,” he shot back, “People walk out on you sometimes. Nothing to be done about it.”
“Then why did he leave you his saber?”
“Because it doesn’t work. It’s useless.”
“Have you tried it?”
“No. Nothing works here. Why would I?”
“Wouldn’t hurt.” Marquis crossed his arms.
“I agree. I would like to see if it works.” Cynthia said somewhat excitedly.
“Whatever! If you guys wanna stand around and watch me push a button, that’s your loss,” Iisska huffed, “It’s not gonna work.”
“Want to bet? I am willing to.” Marquis said.
“With what? We got nothing to bet with.”
“Well…”Marquis started.
“If it works, I will go into town and purchase new clothing.” Cynthia said abruptly. Both Iisska and Marquis gave her a sideways glance of confusion.
“No. You’re going to buy new clothes anyway. You can’t keep wearing that,” Iisska argued. He was blushing furiously.
“WELL. If it does not work, I will show you everything I know in hand-to-hand combat.” He said, silencing Cynthia for a few moments.
“I… Hmm,” Iisska thought about it for a moment, “That would be… Alright! And if the damn thing turns on, Sterling… you… you have to… Ah… Teach me that hand-to-hand stuff anyway. And you!” he looked at Cynthia and rubbed his chin, “I pick out the clothes.”
Marquis stared at him for a minute, taken aback by the sudden perverted stance, but shook his head. “Could have just asked me to give you hand to hand training, you know…well, lead the way, I have a bet to lose according to you.”
“Yeah you do!” Iisska grinned.
“SON OF A BITCH!”
The darksaber was nearly sent flying across the room when Iisska jumped back from the fully ignited blade in his hand. The blade was so black that no light reflected off of it. Yet it crackled and hummed with a foreign energy. Now the three of them stood in his quarters standing around it with looks of bewilderment. Except for Marquis who looked rather pleased with himself.
“Well would you lo-” Marquis started.
“FUCK.” Cynthia cursed, startled by the blade.
The two of them looked at her quietly with vacant expressions.
“I told you it was fun,” Iisska chuckled.
“I’m glad you’re not choosing my clothing.” She said, staring at the blade.
“Come on!” he threw his hands up, “I’m not gonna make you wear anything stupid. Just not so tight. How are you even comfortable?”
“I am really not.” She admitted.
“I can see why she doesn’t want you to choose her clothing.” Marquis said, “She would rather myself choose because you are not as fashionable as myself.” He beamed.
“I know about fashion!” Iisska said, standing there, caked in mud, barefoot and dressed in oil-stained cargos that were more hole than fabric at this point, “Can I at least supervise?”
She stared at him for several moments before she finally resigned. “Fine. You may see them after I get them, but I get to choose them.”
“Iisska. you sad, sad, little Togruta.” Marquis shook his head.
“I’m not sad,” Iisska said through clenched teeth.
“Seems like you are more ‘Excited’ than sad, actually.” He said.
“Excited about the sword? Yeah! Pretty pissed off about the jerks in my room though.”