Avacynne stood outside the rehab center clenching and unclenching her fists, she had been standing outside the doors for an hour, an internal struggle raging inside her. She had been doing spice since she was 14, since Teah had been taken from her. She looked at her hands, spotted all the familiar injection sites, she was 24 now, she had numbed ten years of her life.
As a Miraluka the force was inherent in her, but she preferred to use her own wits and strength to get by, she was never good at manipulating the flow, or controlling it the way Teah could. After Teah left, taken by the Sith, she resorted to pick pocketing, she tried her hand at the brothels, but she never got many clients, the empty eye sockets a turn off. Eventually the Madame kept her on as security, Ava was a great shot, and took care of anyone who would hurt her girls, or try to swindle her. The whores preferred her to the big brutes who would leer at them, and only keep them safe in return for favors. As thanks they would share their spice with her, and once Ava discovered she could block out the force altogether she was hooked. She would take enough spice to render her blind, and vulnerable, but she didn't care . She managed through her shifts, with the promise of blindly floating out of her skin once she was done. Occasionally some of the whores would join her, she never knew who, sometimes girls, sometimes some of the boys, she would wake in various states of undress, but they kept her safe, her blasters always ready, her small metal visor close at hand. It was a constant cycle, almost all of her money went to spice, when she found herself with enough spice but with extra credits, she bought cheap ill fitting armor. She was small, any armor that would have been truly useful would have needed to be custom made, but Ava didn't care, she learned to get around and be effective in her oversized armor, she always managed to shoot first anyways, and her targets always fell.
She found herself in front of a minor Hutt, one of his enforcers had tried to hurt one of Ava's girls, and he had died for it. He hired her on the spot, doubled her salary, and much to Avacynne's joy he was in the spice business. She left the brothel without a second thought, although she still spent her nights there, this time paying her friends for their time and security.
She started taking odd jobs, hunting down quick bounties to supplement her pay, she needed more and more spice to numb herself, eventually she made more money off of bounties then from the spice lord that she left his service and went into business for herself. It was the best scenario, she would do enough jobs to buy a large amount of spice and go on week long benders where she felt nothing, where she didn't see. She didn't see Teah carried off, she didn't see Master Elliah's face full of pity and sadness, she didn't see the swirling light and dark that was always around, she didn't see herself, the angry and weak failure. She drowned the terrified girl that she was and didn't let her resurface.
A new bounty hit the board, the reward one of the biggest she'd seen. The client was a man named Braden, he hired multiple hunters, a competition of sorts. After taking down the mark, he had paid her and offered her something more.
"You're a good hunter, you could be a great hunter. I think you could even win the great hunt." He had told her over drinks. Ava knew about the Mandalorian tradition, every hunter did.
"Do I look like a Mandalorian to you" She snorted, itching to get out and find her dealer.
"You look like a spice head" Ava pulled a pistol on him, it was true, but she didn't like hearing truths. She liked it better when he called her a good hunter.
"I want to work with you, I haven't seen this much raw talent in ages, but I won't work with you like this." He stood up to leave ignoring the pistol, her arm was shaking terribly, she needed a fix.
"If ever you decide you want to be more than this, realize your greatness, this is my holo frequency, I'll set you up with rehab, help get you clean. I'll invest in you, because I think you could be a great investment. Then come find me, and we'll get to work and win you the Great Hunt." He left a card on the counter, and walked away from her.
That was a week ago, and his words, and Teahs old encouragements, that she was a survivor, that she was strong had bounced around in her head with the spice haze until she called him. He was the first person to truly put his faith in her, believe in her, believe she could stand on her own two feet and be something.
"I want to win the great hunt." Was all she said, Braden had not expected to hear from her again but smiled when he did.
She took the handful of steps it took to walk into the rehab center and checked herself in. She wouldn't disappoint him.