Beauty and the Beast ((Dire))

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

The Unum: A group of some of the cruelest people on this planet that were force users.

They weren’t typically a group people wanted to get involved with, but a certain displaced Rilan found them rather useful…and far more “welcoming” than the Mythics for a man of his…nature. Certainly he had run across a few Mythics, and while he could carry a decent conversation with them, he found it a tedious effort that often yielded little results. With the Unum, however, he could do work for information. It was dirty work, assassins work, but it was work he was comfortable with and it got him information much more swiftly. He kept his force abilities buried around them, leaving only the mildest traces of ability to be felt so they would ‘accept’ him as even mildly capable, but not give them anything more. To them, he was a simple man with no heavy power in any one area…a man of mediocre skill at best, but one that could get the job done.

Nai’maithe…this was the name he gave them, his Sul’an name.

He would take a job here or there, always something simple for his talents, and in exchange he got answers. Answers about the Mythics, about the planet, about the Unum itself…occasionally he received an actual payment, depending on what job he was doing and how difficult it was. He didn’t, however, trust them enough to let the name of Firians fall on their ears…not just yet. They reminded him far too much of his family, and he couldn’t risk them proving him correct.

After his most recent meeting with a couple of Rilan, however, he had more questions that needed answers…

---

--You will give me the information I require, whether you wish to or not…it will be far less painful, however, if you give it to me without a struggle. The choice is yours.--

The wide eyed gaze of the man he held pressed against the wall of a building in a dark alley, the unlit hilt of Virlé pressed tight under the man’s jaw. Was he going to kill him that way? No, not likely…it would be too obvious on a planet like this, where lightsabers were so uncommon, but the man had seen the bloody red of the heated blade, and felt the heat of a star so near to his skin that he understood the danger well enough even once the blade was deactivated and came to rest against his jugular. Another moment passed in silence and those lupine features narrowed. ”You are testing my patience,” he hissed, bearing down on the man’s mind, his presence like hot needles sinking into skin. The man attempted to cry out in pain, but the sound was signal to his vocal chords was blocked by that telepathic skill.

The brunt of the man’s weight sunk into the muscles of Rakesh’s arm as the man went limp, the rest of his mind cut off from his body except for the most vital impulses…the ones that kept him living. Yes, right now he was needed alive as the tall blond surgically slipped into the man’s ever weakening barriers with only some little effort. A signal to his mind from elsewhere told him that there were people headed in this direction and that Hriff could see them.

--I have no more time for your stalling. You have lost your opportunity.--

The short term memory he could bypass, he knew from the Unum that this man had known the location of a certain object they desired for some time now, but time and again he had managed to evade them. No longer. Rakesh had heard the name of this man spoke previously by those with the Unum and that he was known as a ghost as far as being tracked and caught. He was a thorn in their side and they wanted that thorn out, but they didn’t believe him capable enough of finding the little prick. Pity for them…he found out the location of their object after digging around in that cluttered and depressingly optimistic mind, and in moments he had dropped Virlé, letting it hand around his wrist by its cord, and had slit the man’s throat with his dagger.

Letting him drop unceremoniously on the dank ground, Rakesh pulled a single, small, feather from a pouch on his belt and slipped it through the blood oozing from the man’s neck before holding it in his teeth as it dried and pulling out a small device. The tiny camera clicked once, the image of the man to be taken back to the Unum once he had the object of their desire safely in his hands.

--Hriff, come.--

Pulling the still drying, blood covered, feather from between his teeth, he walked silently down the alley. Honestly this was quite a bit of trouble for some likely useless information chip, but he’d taken the job on his own. The one thing he found disturbingly familiar about the Unum was their isolationist mentality. This was one reason he was having to put so much work into gaining some modicum of their trust. As he slipped around yet another corner in the twisting and winding lower streets of the city, he paused, slipping the feather into another of the long pouches on his belt with habitual ease.

Leaning against a wall casually, he entered what information he had gotten into his logs as he waited for Hriff. In all honesty it didn’t take the draconic little creature long to reach him, the feel of his presence, the sound of small leathery wings, and a burst of excited chittering announcing his arrival. Without even looking up at his little companion, he held up a strip of jerky as a reward once the mirjhai was settled on his shoulder. It was greedily snapped up and thoroughly enjoyed.

---

Several hours it took for him to find the place he’d seen in the man’s memories, having had to piece together bits of information he’d seen with vague directions from people he’d pass on the way. Up from the lowest levels and into a district that was only slightly less impoverished. The thought made him huff to himself. Amazing the difference between what people considered to be poverty. These people had life easy in many ways that his did not…he could see, however, where they were struggling as well. It wasn’t as if they could grow their own food to keep from starving like the majority of his could. From his shoulder the barely visible form of Hriff chirruped and readjusted itself in the folds of his clothing, shifting color just enough to continue to blend in.

Smirking slightly, he shook his head as he walked, eying the buildings and doorways he passed. He was getting close now, the architecture of the places he walked past recognizable from the memories he had invaded. It had to be near here somewhere, just…where? That dark green clothed form paused, the light drizzle that had begun and was slowly seeping its way down from the upper layers of the city falling softly on the deep hood that covered his head. The cloak was slightly faded and travel stained; something that wouldn’t draw much attention to him down here unless they saw what lay beneath. The only real distinguishing part of this cloak was the clasp, shaped as a silver stylized dagger…the symbol of the Sul’an.

Glancing up at the numbers designating this particular building as a specific address, grey eyes took in the sight. This was the place he was looking for, but it seemed different than what he’d discovered in the man’s memories. Something had changed, but what?

[Dire Wolf]

Lyssah Archria, or the now infamous Rhissai'arckan as some call her, blew a wild lock of raven hair out of her eye as she gazed down at her holo-book. Rust colored light played with the bright emeralds that were her eyes as they danced along the luminescent 'pages'. It took the woman a few scant moments to lose herself within the prose, and find herself beside the warrior king who stood beside his men against impossible odds. His was an ancient story, one of the oldest in memory.

Ly could see the tongues of smoke curl in the distance, evidence of the taung's pillaging. They had waged war after war against the humans of old, and all that stopped them from the warrior king's kingdom was a narrow pass. A mountain towered over one side, and a cliff leading to nothing but a churning ocean on the other. A wall of brilliantly painted shields bristling with spears had her back, and a scintillating mass at her front. Every so often the glint of metal could be seen from a sword or glaive within the mass, at least until they came within a reasonable distance. But they'd barely gotten there before they charged...

Wrex's cold nose against her skin only threw her out of the primeval world, and back into reality. The former jedi smirked slightly and stroked the top of his massive head. "I know. I want to go back, too," that smirk turned into a sad smile, "but we can't." After letting the holobook rest on the table, she leaned back against her chair and gazed off into nothing. Her fight against the sith besides Grand Master Beleren, Magdalena, and of course the events of Nal Hutta. She hadn't been much more than a big payday before she killed that blasted hutt.

After, well... the hutts put a bounty on her head that would make the republic and the sith blush.

Fortunately, she had a unique talent that would hide her from most if not all of her hunters: Force Illusion. With it, she could essentially make herself into basically anyone. Today, she was the kindly old lady at the book store, and wrex... he was a very big dog.

Those two green eyes, the only thing unaffected by her illusion, shifted up to see a man standing outside of the door. He was tall, blonde, and doing his best to look inconspicuous. Unforunately, one tends to notice facial tattoos, and she was completely ignoring his other qualities.

No sooner than the 'elderly' jedi master rose to her feet than a sharp knife dug into her side. Ly gave a groan and shot her hand over to the spot where Averia landed that brutal telekinesis infused kick. Had Lys not been using her skills in the school of body to protect herself, and she been a normal human, she would have probably died right then and there.

Ly did nothing until, if, he stepped into the little store. Once inside, she offered him a warm smile and a friendly greeting. "How can I help?"

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

This had to be the place, but in the man’s memory it had been unoccupied. A fabricated memory perhaps? Or had there really been a change that he didn’t know about? It was difficult to tell. Either way, he didn’t waste more than a moment or two before heading for the door of what appeared to be a book shop of some sort. As he approached, he slipped that hood back, keeping the material carefully covering the rest of him until he reached forward to open the door. As he stepped in, a glimpse of the black-green clothing below could be seen, hints of gold glinting from his belt as well as the bright orange and forest green of the phoenix and dragon emblazoned on his belt buckle before it all vanished again with the lowering of his arm.

“How can I help?”

Eyes as grey as the storm clouds above fell on her as she spoke, those lupine features narrowing slightly around the eyes.

”I was simply referred to this address, Hiril, by an acquaintance. I wasn’t expecting a book shop.” His eyes fell on the large dog-like creature accompanying her before glancing back to the woman. That illusion was well done, but he could see her through it, if only as one might see another person behind a veil of mist and fog. He had to admit that for not being able to see the smaller details of her clearly, she was at least well shaped…a thought that made him smirk, just barely, to himself. ”However…now that I’m here, I suppose it would be worth my time to have a look around.”

[Dire Wolf]

Ly couldn't help but arch her brow at the man who was before her, or more... the small smirk that tugged at one corner of his lips as he spoke. The words themselves made sense in a way, yet the meaning behind them was... different. It was no lie, that much she knew for certain. She'd felt that very meaning behind other words many times before, mostly recently, yet she couldn't quite figure out what it meant.

Her face held the same expression, but Wrex tilted his head ever so slightly and sat back on his haunches. "Well, if you need help.... just-," she remembered who he was, "-... just call. Have we met before?" He was the man that she'd first seen in a dream back on Onderon. Before Silas kidnapped and tortured her. The cuts along her face and torso were still healing from that, not to mention her broken ankle. It had never been properly set or cast, but Jace had done wonders for it.

Wrex, not quite having as much of an illusion over his person, stood back up and leaned as far forward as his front legs would allow, and sniffed the air audibly. Almost as if getting another inch closer to the man would earn him a swift kick to the side. Ly wasn't entirely sure what to make of this. Either she was dreaming again, or just utterly insane. Hopefully it wasn't the latter. "I don't think I caught your name...?"

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

“Well, if you need help…just—just call. Have we met before?”

Her sudden stammer had him curious, to be sure, though he made next to no motion indicating he’d noticed, preferring to answer the question in stead. ”No, Hiril, I’m afraid that is highly unlikely.” I would remember with a form like that, I would believe. And if not the form, certainly by the illusion. Passing by that ‘dog,’ he eyed it momentarily as it sniffed loudly at him. He didn’t mind animals most of the time, Rilia was full of them…especially out in the wilds. Certainly he could be annoyed by them, but for the most part he found their company far more desirable than the company of other, fully-sentient, beings. Maybe that was why he actually had more of a conscience in killing animals than he did killing sentients…animals simply did what it took to survive and reproduce, sentients complicated life to an unnecessary degree causing more problems than they solved.

Pausing his easy pace, he’d gaze for a moment at the books there before walking slowly down the aisle. It had to be in here somewhere, a loose vent grate that had what he was searching for somewhere along the back walls, but where? And how to get it? I may have to return at night after she’s gone.

“I don’t think I caught your name…?”

He chuckled softly at that. Of course she hadn’t.

”That’s because I have not given it, but then neither have I received yours, Hiril. As the shop owner, shouldn’t you introduce yourself first?”

If it shut her up and got him some privacy, good…if she simply answered with her name, that was fine also he supposed. At least then he’d have something to call her beside ‘hiril’ all the time. After dealing with that priestess and her attending to every other bit of propriety and hospitality save for introducing herself, he wasn’t too keen on addressing people simply by a formality for long. That thinking, however, didn’t necessarily go both ways. He certainly didn’t mind keeping his name a mystery for as long as possible. Perhaps that was another reason why he’d said what he had to her.

Pausing at the back end of the aisle he’d gone down, he pulled a book off the shelf, opening it and glancing at the page. With a shake of his head, he’d put it right back. The next he picked up at least had something stomachable in it, the story seemingly about some leader of a clan of Taung Mandalorians and his life and struggles. At least it looked interesting on first glance and would keep the woman from questioning why he wasn’t bothering with any of the book. Once again he started moving, casually making his way down along the back aisle, eyes flickering back and forth between the wall (searching for any vents) and the other aisles of bookshelves.

[Dire Wolf]

Ly's 'experienced' brow wrinkled further as he told her that she had, in fact, never seen him before. That was disturbing in a way, at least to her, after one considered the things that she'd seen in the dead of night, behind her eyelids. That look soon melted into a neutral one when he asked for her name, and it was just then that she wished that she could drop the illusion. Why keep it up? "Lyssah," the woman said just before hobbling back to her little desk.

She allowed the man to restlessly look at book after book. Barely looking at a page before snapping it shut and moving to the next. Though Ly was careful not to actually look at him, or make it seem as if she were. There was just something off about this man, ignoring the fact that she'd seen him in visions, or dreams, or whatever... a few short weeks before. Ly smirked a little as an illusion of herself walked in from a back room, and stand infront of the desk. It was odd in a way, to see her body stand there before her, but it wasn't so perturbing as to actually pull her away.

When this man had his back turned, the illusion took the visage of the old woman... and Ly took her own back. After their physical positions had been switched, had a little conversation with the illusion before walking off to a random section of the store. In truth, she had only picked up a 'job' here to get some form of roots in the community while searching for Unum. While it wasn't completely obvious that she was a mythic, the woman couldn't completely hide her power from prying eyes.

She would have felt like a well trained force user, yes, but hopefully not an ex-council woman.

Ly would aimlessly look at books, occasionally picking one up to sample it before putting it back in its original place, before slipping it back into its place. It didn't take long for her to find the wolfish man. Those brilliant green eyes seemed to smile up at him shyly as she grabbed a book he was standing infront of. A cuirass made of studded cuirboilli hugged her chest, and a blaze orange phoenix rising from the ashes was painted over her heart. Below that, she wore unassuming clothes that kept her inconspicuous. After a few moments Lyss looked back at him and let out a little smile, "how much does a gundark weigh?"

"... enough to break the ice. I'm Alayne."

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Kesh is such a silent guy >_< ...sorry for the 'blah' reply...

---

So Lyssah was her name, hmm? It felt like truth enough for him to simply nod in return and give ‘Rakesh’ as his name as she hobbled back to the desk, allowing him to move along through the bookstore and to the back where he would be far less visible. Of course, this meant that he missed the little show she made of having a conversation with “herself,” or the little switch around she did…not that it would matter when she came back around without the illusion. It was difficult for him not to have noticed a set of curves like she had, the basic structure of her body having been the only thing he could easily focus on. It was what had defined her in his eyes, so when she approached him at the back of the store...her presence lapping against him like the waves of a calm lake…he wasn’t fooled easily.

Of course, she couldn’t realize, as she pulled that book down from the shelf before him, that he could sense her.

“How much does a gundark weigh?”

What an odd question…

The shifting grey of his eyes turned to look at her, one brow lifting slightly on those feral features. His main wondering, as he matched the woman before him with the woman from the illusion in form and feel, was if he should answer her honestly and seriously or if he should simply remain silent for what he was almost certain was some childish conversation starter.

“…enough to break the ice. I’m Alayne.”

He did smirk then, but not for the reasons she may have thought he would. No…he was smirking because that name immediately felt wrong…a lie, no doubt. Finally he offered her a quiet and dark little chuckle as he pondered what her reaction would be if he told her that he preferred ‘Lyssah’ as her name over this fabricated one. Ah…well, at least she hasn’t seemed to guess at my ability to read her. I suppose I should keep it that way. Bowing his head to her, he would (re)introduce himself to her, a slight smirk on his face as he allowed piercing eyes to wander along her form before settling on her face.

Isn’t she a lovely one…even with the damage.

Turning fully to her, he offered an (almost) gentle smile. There wasn’t much about him that could ever be described as truly gentle, given his features and his penchant for causing the untimely deaths of others…especially when the emotion only very rarely reached his eyes. The same was true with this smile. There was just something hollow about it that made whatever gentility that might have been found in it completely null and void. Still, he was sure to give a proper bow and take her hand, brushing a light ‘kiss’ to the tops of her knuckles before letting her hand go and standing straight once more. ”A pleasure, Hiril Alayne.”

[Dire Wolf]

Ly assumed that his smirk was a reaction to her infantile pick up line. She found about that much amusement when it was used on her, and then proceeded to ignore the living daylights out of the man who'd wielded it. Oh. She probably should have thought that one through a little bit longer. "Its..." she trailed off as took her hand and brushed a kiss along her knuckles, "... a pleasure as well, Rakesh." After her hand was released, she took it and looked at the top it blankly for a moment, clenching her hand once or twice. She could count the number of times that she'd been greeted like that by a complete stranger on, well, one finger.

Somehow she expected the (now) obviously quiet man to respond with something that would kindle a conversation. So instead of the long talk she'd thought they'd have, there was only an awkward silence that lasted a few seconds. "Well-," she paused as an armored man caught the corner of her eye. While that happened on occasion on the warzone of a planet, rarely did the armor have a foreign look to it. She'd seen him hanging around aiaru, and other worlds, before... he was a bounty hunter. "I'll talk to you later, bye," her somewhat rushed goodbye was punctuated with one of her closed lip smiles, false as it was, and had her flow around him.

Regretting killing that blasted hutt a bit more with every step, Ly maneuvered herself so that she could easily sneak up behind the heavily armored man. Though she did nothing but close her eyes for a moment as she willed her imagination outward to the minds around her. She had no way of knowing if it worked, mind you, only that everything that was effected within a certain radius would see her as a somewhat comely golden haired, blue eyed man with a smile that could make a girl go weak at the knees and a pair of guns that were big enough to be considered howitzers. His shirt said so.

The bounty hunter's head turned for a moment before a rather rude form of "move along" was passed along through his helm's speakers before he turned back to look for her within the store. She changed directions, but only so that it would look like she did as he bid. Her heart began to beat heavily within her chest as she got within striking distance of her hunter. Her hands moved up to grip the man by the helmet and jerk it back and forth twice, snapping it like a twig.

But just before she did so, a powerful but dainty looking arm wrapped around her throat. Ly's green eyes shot open, and her hands shot up to rip the soft but surprisingly powerful arm from her throat. Nothing. Even with all of the Jedi Master's prowess at strengthening herself with the Force. Desperation had the woman begin to stomp on the monster's ordinary looking foot, to no avail.

The bounty hunter turned by then, the surprise he felt almost written across that emotionless visor. Normally she would have let a smirk out as she ruined him, but normally she didn't get choked by a girl armed strongman. What was wierder was that she didn't feel the creature choking her at all. It was as if s/he didn't exist at all. Her first hunter raised his rifle then, but Ly's leg lashed up and struck the end before he could fire his stun bolt. The hard rifle flew up, the front sight post slamming into his visor... and even impaling it a little bit.

He was far from dead, the post wasn't big enough, but the force of it sent him reeling backwards.

Her world grew blurry and began to spin as she struggled within the monster's grasp. Nothing she did worked. Lyssah's elbows had enough force to shatter a person's skull, but they hardly made the thing choking her flinch. Her heel had enough power to dent steel, but her foot was aching after trying to crush the thing's foot. In one final, desperate, attempt Lyss' hands latched on to the soft, tan flesh of the choking arm and unleashed volt after volt of electricity into it.

She wanted to scream at the pain of her own lightning, and probably would have if her vocal chords weren't being crushed by the freakishly strong woman arm. But in the end it worked, and the arm released her throat, which was followed by the swift and sure 'thwump' of a heavy body hitting the ground. Ly herself all but collapsed, breathing as best she could between the racking coughs that sent her shoulders buckling. Her head began to pound powerfully as she recovered from the choking, and in no time at all she heard the audible sound of a blaster being set to stun.

The Force rushed into her body as she used it to move at immense speeds, and help do what a normal person couldn't a scant ten seconds after being nearly choked to death. Ly's form was a blur as her shoulders flew into the bounty hunters ankles, a stun bolt missing her by micrometers. Yet again, the bounty hunter found himself eating a mouthful of floor. Only this time, his Jedi quarry straddled him between her legs and began to send a flurry of electricity packed fists into the back of his face.

Ly was only able to get a few strikes on him before a girlishly soft hand wrapped around her throat, and picked her up well off of her feet. Those green eyes opened wide in surprise as she felt the iron grasp of the tiny hand. They opened a little wider when they saw that the girlish hand was attached to a pretty, fifteen year old girl with the prettiest eyes, short bruenette hair, and a gorgeous but cold face. They grew wider yet when she realized that this was this girl was the beast that saw through her illusion, and nearly killed her.

One of Ly's hands shot for White Fang, but the girl's other hand latched onto her wrist and started crushing it beneath that inhumanely powerful grasp. The Jedi was about to shock the girl when her position in the world moved yet again. Rapidly. Everything but the pretty girl was a blur until she felt something hard stop her midsection while the rest of her tried to move backwards. Pain burned through her body as she plopped to the ground, and gave a little grunt.

Yep, she just got her arse handed to her by a fifteen year old. Wonderful.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Her reaction to how he greeted her had him smirking just a bit more and chuckling silently to himself. The mixture of the look on her face and how she had to clench her hand a few times as if she wasn’t quite sure what to do with it now had thin threads of amused green seeping into his eyes, if only for a moment as he turned his eyes (but not his attention) back to the book in his hands. She seemed uncomfortable in the silence between them, adding to the humor he felt…he was perfectly comfortable with it.

“Well…”

The malicious presence of another drifted into range of his collapsed senses, causing him to turn his attention, and them, onto the very male set of emotions and thoughts as he attempted to figure out just why he was here. There was something about the woman but…he couldn’t glean more than that without outright attempting to gain entry to the man’s mind.

“I’ll talk to you later, bye.”

Her hasty exit only confirmed his suspicions that something was not only ‘off’ but that this new comer was likely going to be the source of some trouble. Nodding he stepped aside to make room for her to pass out of sight. With a light sigh he closed the book softly and returned it to its place on the shelf, drifting away toward the back of the shop silently, his eyes actively searching the walls before he caught sight of the small side room and unclipped the top of the pouch that Hriff was curled up in. ”Come on Hriff, time to go to work…” he thought to his little companion as he made sure he wasn’t going to be seen entering the room before slipping in. The woman would be preoccupied with the newcomer no doubt, so he had a little time.

The little horned head of his companion appeared only a moment later, brown like the pouch he was in, the scales and horns on him having taken on the color during his time nestled in there. Holding out a hand beside the pouch, Rakesh studied the room, looking for the low grate as he waited for Hriff to clamber into his palm. Curious as always, Hriff’s thoughts repeated his emotions and wonder at the new place around them like a broken record. It was something the man was used to and had learned to tune out, for the most part. ”The data chip. You’re going to find it in there. Seek.” He’d found the vent below a table, the bars just barely wide enough for the little draconic lizard to fit through. Holding out his hand, he watched Hriff rustle his wings and chirrup softly before compressing himself and wriggling through and into the darkness.

In the main store Rakesh could hear the beginnings of a struggle. The woman was certainly on edge…frightened was closer to the truth…and he debated on his next actions. With a sigh he decided to help, just a little, while he waited. After all, it was something to pass the time and would make things easier when he finally got out there to assist fully. If he helped this Lyssah/Alayne woman when he reappeared, she may be useful to him as a contact on this planet. Allowing his senses to stretch out just a bit further he felt the surprise from the man and the utter fear and desperation of the woman. He vaguely wondered what had happened between the two to cause such emotions so suddenly, but he didn’t give it a second thought, instead lancing a single frigid spike of pain and fear toward the man. It wouldn’t do much more than slow him down, but it might help. He didn’t know how much it had until he heard the crack of metal against wood and the tumbling of a few books as the man had staggered backwards.

The soft chirrup of Hriff returning was almost lost on him as he felt the woman’s presence begin to flicker and dim. It was a sharp nip to his finger that got his attention back from the male mercenary’s mind and the damage he’d been starting to do there and back to the louder ‘hrriiff!’ sounding from the table. Looking down as the smell of electricity infused and burnt the air, he noted the little chip held in the front claws of his little friend. Holding out one hand, he’d rub the top of Hriff’s head with a finger as the chip was dropped into his palm. Slipping the data chip into a pouch on his belt, he scooped the mirjhai up and dropped him (rather unceremoniously) back into his pouch and clipped it closed.

Still unwilling to allow himself to be recognized as a force user, he pulled his dagger from its place on his belt and headed out into the main store. The first thing he saw was a flurry of fists pummeling the back of (what he assumed was) the bounty hunter’s head. Good, she had it handled and he could leave. Moving to do just that he stepped silently through the store, but another wave of surprise from the woman had him sighing. What now? She just had him… As he walked his mind slithered along the presence of the other male, twining himself around it and (upon finding him unconscious and his barriers down) had little trouble targeting the central nervous system and convincing it to stop sending those life sustaining signals to the rest of his body.

The trouble was…why was Lyssah still so distraught if the man was unconscious? Well…dead, now. Why was there still danger in the Winds? As he continued to move he considered another force user may have entered the picture and prepared himself accordingly. The sudden sound of a body slamming against something and more books falling had him coming around a corner to find a petite girl standing there, dangerously close before him, and the older woman slumped on the ground. Without a second thought he took the fact that this little creature before him was currently distracted as his opportunity to strike. Two swift steps and his arm was wrapped around the little woman’s throat and he moved to lift her. She was heavier than she should have been…even for a Rilan female…but he had experience with people his weight. His siblings weren’t small, after all, and they wore enough armor to shield a small rosh.

Lifting her was quite a task, but after bracing himself even her flailing only managed to shift him slightly as he kept his muscles working. That dagger skimmed along the side of her face as she struggled, gripping his arm painfully (even through the padded leather and metal bracers beneath his coat and cloak). It found purchase eventually, however, digging sharply into her eye socket and hooking upward with a twist of his wrist as the little she-devil slammed a heel back against his shin. Half growling, half hissing at her, he twisted the dagger again and hooked it through her skull another direction…yet still she struggled.

This one isn’t living! he thought with no small amount of dismay, but at least now he knew something about what he was up against. Those vice-like hands gripped more tightly and he pulled his dagger from it’s eye, barely hooking it into the other with a swift shove before pulling his weapon out and dropping the little devil. Bounding back out of its range of reach, he watched it flail as it spun around and hurtled itself in the direction it thought he was. It was easy enough to avoid as he pushed though the pain in his leg to shift himself sideways. The girl ran full on into the counter at the front and he was after it like the predator he was.

One hand would grip the back of the girl’s head and slam it forward onto the desk as his fingers got a good grip on the hair there. In the next swift motion he ripped it backward, flinging it to the floor while it was still slightly confused…or dazed…or whatever droids got. Whatever the case was it didn’t seem to know what exactly was going on and that was to his benefit. In the blink of an eye one of his boots had slammed onto the side of it’s face, attempting to snap the neck with the force, before dropping to a knee to pin one of its arms and attempting to break through the chest plate only to have his dagger turned by whatever was beneath the skin. Undaunted, he allowed the blade to remain flat and slice through the skin and clothing downward, slicing it open down to the ‘bone’ to try and find a way to get past it. Not a chink…but as he reached the diaphragm, his dagger sank in.

Not thinking, he followed the dagger’s lead and, just before it could catch his wrist, his hand let go of the dagger, came up, and slammed down on the hilt. The girl twitched slightly, then convulsed, then froze, its hand wrapped around his wrist just barely. Grey eyes were tinted with spikes of orange and wary yellow as he reached for one of the pouches that housed his sabers, unwilling to let the thing survive any longer…even at the expense of his ace in the hole. For a tense moment he waited to see if it moved again, but when it didn’t, he finally allowed himself to relax slightly, looking up toward where he felt the remaining woman.

”Still alive back there, Hiril?”

[Dire Wolf]

While Kesh was dealing with the little monster, Ly was busy recovering from the damage that had been dealt. She groaned loudly as she rolled over on her back. A freight tram must have hit her. That was the only explanation. The pain in her back was bit back by little groans and growls as she slowly stood from her prone position, sending feelers of her consciousness out into the world. That man seemed to have the... thing... dealt with by the time she was up and about.

<<By the dread wolf! If I keep losing I'll have to go back and tell the Jedi that I'm not as skilled as they think I am,>> the woman grumbled in aphithiri as she walked towards Rakesh almost casually. Blood was everywhere. The little devil was on the ground, her eyes mangled, her skin shredded, and a single stab wound in her chest. It was a shame, she was a pretty little thing.

After a few minutes of studying the gory terror, she looked up at Kesh and considered his question. "Only just," she feigned weakness then. In her experience men were hasty to believe two things about a woman. First was that she was interested in him, second that she was weak. "Thank you, for saving me. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't destroyed... it?" She motioned back to the droid thing with her head.

She carefully walked over to the droid's 'remains' and squatted down beside them. It was a bloody mess, yes, but it was also intriguing. Decades ahead of what she thought modern technology could produce. Ly poked at the female's soft skin a few times, not believing what she felt. Real skin, albeit rapidly cooling, or what felt like it. Real breasts. Correct muscle structure. Everything. She looked back at Rakesh, a fair bit of worry on her face, "I suppose you're wondering why something like... her," she glanced back at the carrion, "is after me. You hear about the hutt that was assassinated and his palace destroyed? Yeah. I was involved in that."

At this point, she didn't care about telling people who or what she was anymore. If Rakesh tried something she'd just beat him like a red headed step child. "I don't really work here, either. But a book store is the last place someone would look for a 'dangerous fugitive.'" She shrugged, and looked at the unconscious form of the bounty hunter, "or not, I guess."

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Huffing, he pulled the hand of the….droid….thing…from his wrist, twisted the dagger in it’s gut and started cutting. He wasn’t about to take any chances at this point, and while he had this curiosity unconscious he was going to not only do some studying, but some removal of whatever he could salvage. He was already spattered liberally with blood, what was a bit more? The thought made him chuckle slightly to himself and shake his head just slightly.

“Only just.”

He looked up.

Who did she think she was fooling? He’d seen her hold her own against both the armored man and, for a little while, against this…thing. Well, she didn’t know he’d seen, he supposed, so he let it go and didn’t do more than nod and go back to slicing the thing open, starting to peel away skin and fat and muscle to reveal a twisted and grotesque caricature of nature made of mingled wiring and organs. It was disturbing…even to him. Perhaps especially to him…a man who’d come from a planet that only used technology in certain areas of life. Droids, on Rilia, were rare…androids practically unheard of. After all, who wanted a monstrosity like this lurking about? Even the Morequai didn’t have these violations of nature around.

“Thank you, for saving me. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t destroyed…it?”

He snorted and cut out some of the larger circuits and conduits in the thing.

”You are quite welcome. For once I’m glad to have done damage to something that looks so feminine. This…thing…is an affront to nature itself.”

“I suppose you’re wondering why something like…her…is after me.”

Not particularly, but I suppose she’s going to tell me anyway.

“You hear about the hutt that was assassinated and his palace destroyed? Yeah. I was involved in that. I don’t really work here, either. But a book store is the last place someone would look for a ‘dangerous fugitive.’ Or not, I guess.”

Finally he glanced up at her, one bloody hand paused in it’s shifting a lung aside to see what he’d damaged when he’d slammed his dagger in and the thing had finally fallen silent. ”I can’t say I know what you’re talking about, Hiril, but if you have this sort of creature after you, I would suggest you find a better place to ‘hide’ than a bookstore. Or perhaps some stronger allies.” Looking back to his work with unflinching ease, he caught sight of the cut wiring and huffed, withdrawing his hand. ”A lucky strike, it seems…” Wiping his dagger off on the android’s clothing, he stood and replaced it at his belt, looking around, then looking down at her.

”Well, Hiril Alayne, I don’t suppose you know of any good places around here to dispose of a few bodies?” He smirked wolfishly and chuckled a bit. ”Because I doubt very much that the local authorities would be pleased to find them in ‘your’ shop…”

[Dire Wolf]

Lys blinked as the man flipped his dagger around and dug it deep into the "girl". Her eyes soon got wide as the blade of that dagger slid along the thing's skin to reveal a bloody mesh and... organs underneath. At its core it still had a metal skeletal structure, one that made her stomach curl and twist. The woman had seen many things in her long life, but the 'marriage' between man and machine was certainly not one of them. Nor has she seen what looked like a sweet and innocent girl be practically skinned and butchered before her eyes.

"Do you HAVE to do that? She's a robot. Good to go," the woman said with a sickened look on her face. "I know a few decent spots to toss a body, not that we can use them now." The woman held up a hand to tell him to hold still while she turned and walked off to grab a mat that was big enough to conceal the... remains. Once found, she put it in a hasty roll and grabbed an end before dragging it back to the strange, emotionless man.

As she came up to him, she dropped the mat and kicked the roll flat. It was so strange, seeing the crimson blood on his dagger, the open 'carcass' of the 'girl', and not even really seeing disgust on his face. "Lets get 'her' on this thing. We can hide her in the back room until dark." The woman then bent down at her feet, facing Rakesh, and waited for him to grab her shoulders. This would be a fun job. Hiding a body with a sociopath.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

“Do you HAVE to do that? She’s a robot. Good to go.”

Again he gazed at her steadily, trying to decide just what it was that she didn’t understand about his actions. ”Yes, Hiril, I do…unless you want this thing to possibly be repaired with ease and come after you again? I don’t understand why you seem so upset over it…this wasn’t a human, but an abomination. One that, need I remind you, just attempted to kill you.” Ah the cold logic of Rakesh; like a breath of fresh air…one that could freeze your lungs as soon as you took it if you weren’t careful.

As she went to go get something, he settled his dagger down on the girl’s chest while he used a bit of her shirt to clean his hands of any excess of blood. More would come, but there was no point in letting it congeal on his hands. By the time she was back he was cleaning off his blade and slipping it back into the sheath at his belt. Standing as the woman dropped the mat, kicking it open, he settled the components he’d extracted from “it” onto the ground before getting up and picking up the shoulders with a soft grunt. Upon getting it onto the mat, he’d start the roll, making sure it was good and tight around the thing before standing and using his boot to continue the roll.

Once he was satisfied it wasn’t going to come undone on them, he’d move to help her pick up and move the rolled up carpet burial shroud to the room she’d indicated. As they settled the thing down again, he huffed a slight chuckle as he looked down at the rolled up mat. ”You know…there’s a story on my planet about a woman who had herself rolled up in a carpet and delivered to her lover.” Smirking, he shook his head a bit and checked himself for blood. Most of it had gotten onto his shirt and the knees of his pants where the pooling of it had touched him in his impromptu autopsy. Sighing, he shook his head. ”These will have to be burned. Shame. At least the cloak will cover it outside.”

As he headed for the door and back toward the main store he paused near the woman, looking at her steadily. ”I’ll deal with the one in armor, take this bottle and thoroughly spray the blood patches with it, do you understand?” Pulling a small bottle from one of the larger pouches along his belt he took her hand and pressed the object into her palm. Once he was sure she had a hold of it, he let go and started through the door to the dead man against the back wall.

[Dire Wolf]

The woman would wait to return from getting the mat before responding, "because I knew this girl, Rakesh. She used to come in every couple of days for help with her school work. Cersei Aehir. Orphan, brightest fifteen year old I've ever met, an orphan, and a friend." Lys bit the inside of her lip as she rolled the girl up into the carpet, knowing that the dead thing was little more than an abhorrent marriage between machine and man, but still caring for her lost friend.

Regardless, she smirked a little at his attempt to lighten the situation. There were many of stories like that, but not on her homeworld. The closest her people ever came to romance was when two people of the opposite sex lets their, 'steel sing', or in other words... gets into a fight. The woman didn't bother saying that, though. "Really. Did it work?"

After the roll had been laid next to the wall in the storage room, he walked over to her with a bottle, and spoke to her shortly before giving it to her and heading off. "Blood doesn't clean up so easily. You can spray all you want," she spoke while looking at the bottle, "but its in the pad, probably beneath from the blood lost during your autopsy. Besides, do you really mean to take a three hundred pound carpet roll and a armored dead man across town?"

She shrugged, "I say we just burn it all. By the time the fire's done, neither of the bodies are recognizable." Once again, Lys sighed... though there was something in the air now. Something that made her mouth water and her tongue ache. One single, short sniff revealed it to be the faint but undeniable scent of blood. Flashes of her gauntlet ripping a man's throat out burned themselves into her mind, along with the taste of the warm liquid that coated her armored hand. The beast within her loved the coppery taste, but in truth... a part of her did, too.

Closing her eyes and shaking her head, she walked off towards Rakesh with the bottle in hand. "Listen... thank you, but I don't think you should be helping me. Or should have helped me back when Cer-... the droid was up and kicking. I had it handled." She did. The second Lys landed, and recovered, White Fang would have been out and his blade would have turned the robot into a metallic bowl of sushi. Or the Force would have zapped her into oblivion.

In truth, she was pushing him away for more than one reason. No friendship, or relationship, ever seemed to last in her experience. Men she loved turned evil and twisted, and then showed up when she was most vulnerable. Friends were a target for inadvertant betrayal, death, or a stab in the back themselves in this latest case. She would burn the building, either with herself in it or just move out into the wilds of Mykyr where no man has tread since she plucked Wrex from his home.

"Or we could just forget about this whole thing. I'm not exactly attached to this place.... they don't even know my name. Not my real one, anyways."