It was several hours of lying in complete darkness before someone came to fix Inu's light again. She had finished her night's work, keeping the little contraption out of sight of the camera (it had a night vision setting), and had stowed it under the mattress again long before they arrived. She was lying in bed half asleep when she heard the warning buzz that told her that someone was coming in, and that she should stay away from the door.

She turned over to face the door, eyes opening blearily, and stared into the darkness for a moment before the lock popped and the door slid open, admitting a man holding a tray. He placed it on the floor just inside the cell, then stepped back and reached for the 'close' button.

"Wait! My light has... " she started, but he pressed the button anyway and the door slid closed again, locking with a dull 'thud'.

"Ah, well. They'll fix it eventually. It's against their regulations not to." She got up, moved to the door, found the tray with her feet, and picked it up, muttering to herself all the while. "Breakfast is served, madam! For your enjoyment: the same exact type of ration bar as every other day since you got here. Have fun becoming malnourished!" Then she turned, walked back to the bunk, and sat down to eat her meal in the dark. "Hmm. I wonder what company makes these ration bars?" she mused out loud. "Whoever it is, I'd like to pay them a visit. They have a lot to answer for."


Yban was pushed hard from behind, and pitched forward through the cell door. He landed heavily, almost knocking the wind out of himself and hitting his forehead against the metal floor so hard his vision went dark for a moment. As he lifted his head, he heard the door close behind him. "Oh, come on!" he shouted after the troopers, through the closed door. "The least you can do is uncuff me!" As he struggled to his feet, pushing himself up as best he could with his hands bound in front of him, he heard a chuckle, and for the first time realized he wasn't alone in the cell. There was a blue-skinned alien sitting on the lower of the two bunks set into one of the walls, wit its four obsidian-black eyes locked on him. "My, aren't you the indignant one? You know they don't owe us anything, right?" "Sure, but we have... well, even prisoners have rights! And I'll be damned if they're just going to leave these cuffs on me for the whole damn trip to Kessel! It's three more days, they can't leave them on that long."

The creature's lips pulled back to form a sharp-toothed grin, and when it spoke again the teeth clicked together in a very... dangerous sounding way. "You are clearly a warrior. I am Kirkiv, and I am a warrior, too. We are not of the same clan. And our clans have most likely never fought." The creature sounded like it had just made a logical point, but Yban had heard only statements thus far. So he was highly surprised when this Kirkiv creature lunged across the room at him. He shouted in alarm, and toppled backwards, landing heavily for the second time in as many minutes. quick as a flash, the alien was on him. It was fairly small, but kneeling on him, putting its full weight on his chest, it was plenty large to keep him down, especially when both his hands were cuffed and pinned under the little creature. One blue-skinned hand pulled back, claws extending from each fingertip... and then Kirkiv stopped, starring down at the cuffs. "Vreetau!" he shouted angrily, and leapt backward off of Yban, moving just as fast as his earlier lunge.

The alien's weight on his chest, coupled with the fall, had actually been enough to knock the wind out of Yban this time, and for a few moments his head spun with the horse of his impact with the ground. So he just lay there for a long moment, trying to gasp for breath, and getting no results. Finally, when he was able to draw breath again and get up into a kneeling position, he looked around nervously for his cellmate.

The little creature was curled up on the top bunk, still staring at him with those four black eyes. "I am sorry. I attacked while you were cuffed and surprised. You were at a disadvantage. I have lost sight of my honour in this prison, and I ask you to-" "Why'd you do that?!" Yban panted. "I... you don't even know my name! Why would you-" "It is very unlikely for you to be a member of a clan I have already encountered. You are a warrior. I am a warrior. We must fight to prove the order of clan dominance." The creature sounded a little bit miserable about this. Yban could kind of see why. It probably had to fight just about everyone it met here. Non-warriors weren't usually sent to Kessel.

It took him another few minutes, but once Yban had recovered, he immediately forgave the little creature. After all, the attack was just an aspect of its culture. "My name's Yban, by the way." he said at length. "So, I guess it's normal for your species to fight when they meet a stranger?" "Only those from my homeworld, and only if both individuals are of Munak caste... Warriors," he clarified, seeing Yban's questioning look. "I apologize. I did not warn you of my traditions, or speak a formal challenge. This place is getting to me." When Yban assured the creature it was no problem and all was forgiven, it looked pleased. He thought. It was hard to tell with the strange facial expressions it used. Hmm. If it fought any warrior who belonged to a strange clan... "So, what does that mean for stormtroopers? Do you have to fight them every time you see one?" "No, they are all of the same genetic stock. They are of a single clan, and I have already fought many. The order of dominance is established." "Oh. Who won?" Kirkiv looked at him with what must have been exasperation. "Well, I'm sitting in a cell on an Imperial prison ship on the way to a life in the spice mines on Kessel. So what do you think? Who won?" "Ah. I see." The two of them sat in silence then, considering their misfortune. They sat there for a long, long time.