the Cantina (Open)

[Hotel]

Daeira stepped off of the transport ship, the only passenger that day. She took a deep breath, glad to be off the ship and breathe non recycled air. She walked over to one of the dockworkers,"Where's the nearest lodgings?" He pointed in the direction of the main city,"Head about three blocks, then turn left. You should find a hotel there." She nodded her thanks and walked away in the direction he mentioned.

About twenty minutes later she walked into the entrance of the hotel. She looked around and noticed while it is not the grandest of places, it still looked expensive. She walked up to the counter and rang a bell. A human attendant appeared,"May I help you?" She nodded,"How much for your cheapest room?" He looked something up on the computer in front of him,"Seventy-five credits a night, meals not included." She handed him enough credits for three days, and he handed her a key," Room twenty-three on the second floor." She walked back out, heading to a cantina she saw just down the road.

She entered the cantina and immediatly noticed it is almost empty, except for a few Twi'lek over in their own little corner, a bith playing music rather poorly, and an Xexto bartender. She walked over to the bar and waved the bartender over. "What will it be?" "Juma juice," she said as she brushed a few stray strands of silver hair from her face. He nodded as he grabbed a bottle and glass," We don't get many Echani around here, what brings ya to these parts?" "Not really sure, just needed to get away, maybe see if I can find work..." She began to pull out some credits, but he shook his head,"On the house." She nodded her thanks and grabbed the glass as she turned around and leaned against the bar. She sipped from her drink as she watched the entrance.

[Hotel]

Daeira guzzled down her third glass. She had payed for the last two, and turned to the bartender to order a third,"Another glass.....does anything ever happen in here?" He shook his head as he poured another glass, and slid it down the bar to her,"Not often....we do get the ocassional large crowd though." She nodded as she slid some credits back to him. She grabbed her drink and began to sip from it, pausing every once in a while to speak,"So is there much need for mercenaries around here?" He just shrugged. She finished off her glass and left the cantina with a wave.

She walked out of the cantina entrance and noticed a hooded figure nearby. She gave the figure a quick glance over, then shrugged, and walked away down the street. She happened upon an exotic weapon merchant, and grinned. While she searched the merchandise, she discovered a few different things. First off she found an Echani Firebrand, similar to those she trained with in the beginning of her Firedancing, before she chose the tonfa over them. While not as skilled with it as she was the tonfa, she could still be fairly deadly with it. She brought it over to the Duros merchant, and had him hold onto it for her. The next thing she found shocked her. Sitting ontop of a pile of vibroblades were her old tonfas. Somehow they had found their way from Narr Shaddaa to this planet. She immediatly grabbed them, then payed for the firebrand and tried to walk away with them. When the merchant tried to argue with her, she showed the symbols carved into the hilts of the tonfas, then the symbols on her mask, the mark of the White Dusk, her assassin name. He immediatly backed down, not wanting to upset her,"Come back any time," he said as she walked away, but you could tell in his voice that he had not meant it.

She walked farther down the street and into a new area. Here she noticed duels going on. What luck! She had found the cities dueling ring. She went and signed up for the daily tournament, paying the fifty credit signing fee. She then waited for the tournament to begin, polishing her new weapons.

[Hotel]

She had made it to the finals! She had fought vigorously against each opponent along the way, and defeated them with grace and elegance, using only her ritual brand. Each one a stepping stone on her way to the final match. Before her stood a Mandalorian, in full combat armor, her final challenge.

She stood in the center of the dueling ring while he circled her menacingly, a vibrosword in each hand. She waited patiently for the attack she knew would come. Suddenly he shouted his battle cry and charged her, slashing with both blades. "Not tonite big boy." She twirled around, catching the blades on one edge of her double bladed weapon. She retaliated with a backhand slash from the other end. He rolled to the side as she nicked his armor, a burn mark left on it. She felt the peace and serenity she only got while in combat, reading his emotions with each attack, blocking each with grace and fluidity. He was soo easy to predict.

She began to get arrogant, and made him look like a fool, on three separate ocassions tripping him and making him look like a clumsy idiot. On the third time he saw it coming, and as he fell towards the ground, he dropped the sword in his left hand and drew a blaster pistol from his belt, firing at her. She heard the shot and moved just barely enough to avoid being killed, the blast slamming into her left shoulder, rendering it useless. "What the hell do you think you are doing?! This is a non deathmatch tournament!" He replied by drawing a second one, and firing with both, but she was quick, and sought shelted behind one of the walls in the ring that was used as an obstacle. The officials shouted at him to stop, saying he was disqualified, but he didnt care, this 'girl' had made a fool of him, and she would pay with her life.

She sighed. Why did she always get caught up in these kinds of things. She dropped her brand, and grabbed one of her tonfa from it's sheath on her back. She would only use one of her guard shoto hidden at her hip if necessary. "Well I guess it's now or never to test this thing." She ran out from the cover and hurled a smoke bomb at the ground in front of her, obscuring everything in a black smoke. He kept firing a barrage of blaster bolts into the smoke, but she had already moved away. She reached for a switch at her belt, activating the stealth field generator she had gotten before leaving Narr Shaddaa, and snuck around behind him, invisible to his eye. He just laughed as he rained more and more bolts into the smoke, unaware she was behind him. She raised her tonfa and smashed the pommel into the back of his head. He fell to his knees, stunned, dropping both pistols. She quickly placed the blade of her tonfa at his throat,"Match....looks like I win."

She strode into the cantina with a group of people cheering and whooping for the champion of the day. She had won the tournament and been given the prize of ten thousand credits. The Mandalorian had been arrested and taken away by the authorities. She shouted over to the bartender as he began to pour drink after drink,"It's all on me." He waved in response, utilizing all his arms to get the drinks out fast as the group danced to the horrible music loudly, the cantina for the first time in a while, full.