Nelkf accidentally bumped someone in the doorway. The woman, clad in black with black hair and green eyes that looked like those of a demon spun around and caught Nelkf by the collar, strangling her.
The Sklinth blinked in surprise as the woman glared at -no, through. Definitely right through her, like she was looking into her soul.- and tightened her grip on Nelkf's throat.
The woman held a red-haired boy against her one hip, and Nelkf thought she recognized the boy from some place. The chief of state's son? Anakin, perhaps? No, Anakin had brown hair, and while Sklinths had slow memories, Nelkf was never one to forget that sort of thing.
The woman glared darkly at her. Any other relatively humanoid species would have fainted from blood loss by now, but Sklinths could hold their breaths for about ten minutes, if necessary. Nelkf herself had only been able to hold it for six, though. "Uh, sorry," Nelkf managed to work out. It was very hard to speak with no air.
The woman released her, and Nelkf fell backwards on the floor, the sudden return of blood dizzying her. A large cat creature that seemed to reflect the strange woman in every aspect, turned to glare at the Sklinth, then followed the woman out.
Nelkf watched them go, totally bewildered at what had caused the woman to be so short tempered with her. Then again, Karlian, would you give it a second thought if the positions were reversed? I think not.
Standing up, she glanced over at Jax who was slowly shaking his head at her. "Are you sure we're safer in here?" she asked.
Jax laughed. "Safe? You kidding?" Quietly, he whispered to her; "Just keep you blaster handy at all times."
Suddenly annoyed at the thought that perhaps -just perhaps- a Human thought they knew better then her, she growled. Glaring at him as the strange woman had done to her, she said; "You watch your back, and I'll watch mine, Smuggler."
The two beings edged their way through the crowd, attempting not to draw attention. They may as well have tried to leap over Beggar's Canyon. Dozens of eyes watched them. Some too dazed to care, some wondering if they were undercover enforcers, some wondering if it would be worth it or not to pick their pockets, some simply observing, confident that later they would be able to sell this information.
A band of Biths played jizz in the corner. Nelkf had never particularly liked jizz, it hit notes that thrummed in her ears and made her feel sick. She didn't really like Biths, either. They thought they were so great, with their big brains and junk. Yeah, yeah. Go on and brag boys. You wouldn't last two minutes in a free-for-all.
Jax lead her to a table where they sat. Unfortunately, it was not far enough away from the Biths for Nelkf's liking. Perhaps Jax liked jizz. It just went to show how stupid Humans were. At least it was a dark table. Sklinths were semi-nocturnal, and bright light of any kind, such as suns, made them angry and short tempered. Needless to say, Nelkf was not a pleasant being to be around on a bisolar world.
She glanced around at the other beings here. Some of them looked drunk, Nelkf did not know if she was right or not. Sklinths never took drugs of any kind. It went against their beliefs and biology. Since the Sklinthi body ran on less nourishment then a Human's, it used every mineral it could find in what it was given. The tiniest trace of a drug could produce disastrous effects. Should a Sklinth even try coffeine, they would suffer from insomnia for weeks before finally recovering. Nelkf herself knew this from a personal experience and mistake. Even medical drugs such as antibiotics could be fatal. To even give a Sklinth a minuscule amount of any drug was to give them an over-dosage. Not that Sklinths minded this. It was considered weak to show that they should need the help of non-biological products in their immune systems to survive.
Nelkf growled in annoyance and asked Jax; "Why are we even here?"
"We're waiting for a friend of mine who can maybe help us out. We'd have to help him in return though."
"This is fair," Nelkf said calmly. "And what if he doesn't come here?"
"Oh, he will," Jax said. "If I know him, he will."
"I wish he didn't come here."
Jax half-laughed. "So do I, Nel. Believe me."
Nelkf tried to figure out what he meant by that, and started into the long, thrumming purr her species made when they thought. Unfortunately, she couldn't make heads or tails of it. She cursed the fact that the Sklinthi memory was so slow and slippery. It took a Sklinth four times as long as a Human to remember something. Nelkf was not stupid, just not very good at remembering things. The only way she could was to force the knowledge into her instinctive thought pattern. That was how she had learned to speak Basic, but her ability to read it and write it did need refining. Too bad, it would make her life a whole hell of a lot easier.
Suddenly, she felt something was amiss. Glancing down, she saw that the sack containing the disrupter was gone. She started to look around for it. She couldn't have dropped it, could she?
Jax apparently noticed that she was looking for something. He watched her for a few minutes, then unable to tell for himself asked; "Hey Nel, what's wrong?"
"The disrupter!" she hissed. "It's missing!"
"Well, where did it go? It can't exactly walk!"
"Unless someone is carrying it," Nelkf pointed out.
Looking behind her, Jax's eyes went wide as he said; "Uh-oh."
"I don't like 'uh-oh's. What is it?" Nelkf turned to look behind her, and immediately regretted doing so.
A big Human, probably a goon for hire, towered over her. Behind him were several other dangerous looking Humans, each snickering as they saw they had captured Nelkf's attention. No non-Humans. Nelkf thought. A Xeno-hater. Exactly what I don't need. It's a pretty safe bet he can't tell I'm a Sklinth yet, or he would've picked a fight by now. The big man laughed at Nelkf and sneered. In his hand was the sack. "What's inside, Pretty?" he asked.
Any being with one grain of sense would have know to ignore the goon and let him leave, but Nelkf had never considered herself to have more then an eighth of a grain of common sense, and the goon's addressing her so casually made that get blown away in the wind. Snarling like a stol, she began to climb slowly to her feet, glaring at the man. Jax noticed the trouble in the wind and began to get up too, making sure his blaster was set to "kill".
"Hey, watch it nerf lover," he told the goon. "You do not want to make her mad."
The big Human ignored him and laughed in Nelkf's face again. "What's in the bag, Pretty? Something I want?"
Nelkf reached out and caught the swinging bag with one hand, holding tight and glaring at the Human. "A gun," she growled, emphasizing her accent. "And if you don't give it back, you'll find it pressed against your thick skull."
The man laughed again. Nelkf was getting tired of being laughed at by those who underestimated her. "Looks like I've got the better end of the deal here," he motioned to his many lackeys. "I don't know that you'd like to start a fight."
The Sklinth purred, thinking the option through. She had fighting imprinted in her instincts, and it did not sound so bad to her to get into a little brawl. "I don't know about that." she said softly.
Swinging her tail, she caught the Human off guard. He fell down, and before he could reach for either gun or knife, Nelkf kicked him in the face, drawing his attention. The big Human turned to look at her in fearful amazement.
Jax, meanwhile, was keeping one eye on the other goons. Apparently, without their leader, they were kits. Jax shook his head in sad disgust.
Nelkf glared down at the lead goon, smiling evilly. "Rule two of dealing with Nelkf Karlian; If I don't like you, you get hurt." She slowly drew her blaster and pointed it at the goon. "And I don't think I really like you."
The bartender, who had been watching the developing situation carefully, called out. "Hey!" he barked. "No blasters! Not in here! Blow each-other's heads off outside!"
Nelkf muttered a curse and pocketed the blaster. Turning back to the goon, she said; "Rule number three; no one gets away scott-free." With alarming force, she brought her heel down on a place that to most species' males, including Humans, would be extremely painful. Nelkf gingerly picked up the sack and began to sit down at their table. "Now, go away. I'm not in a good mood, and we're waiting for someone."
The big goon managed to drag himself to his feet. "Xeno scum!" he snarled.
The Sklinth turned slowly around, ever muscle in her body taut with hatred and anxiety. "What did you say?" she snarled, sounding more animal by the minute.
