Dark Shadows

Nelkf awoke feeling stiff and tired. The heat of Tatooine beat down on her, but she could feel a soft cushion underneath her. She sat up and looked around, seeing that she was in the back of a landspeeder that was parked on the side of a road in one of the towns. This town seemed less active then Mos Eisley, and that suited Nelkf just fine.

Coming towards her from farther up the street was Jax, carrying papers Nelkf guessed gave them a right to leave Mos Eisley. He waved them at her as he came closer, and she waved back.

"Are you alright, Nel?" he asked. "We were worried when you passed out in the caves."

Nelkf laughed. "I was worried too, you know. How did you get out of there anyway?"

"We were finally able to find the speeder, but it was all full of sand. I had a time cleaning it out. That was when you were in the caves," Jax explained.

"But how did you get out?" she asked. "Didn't the sandstorm come?"

Jax dropped the papers calmly onto the seat. "Oh, it came alright," he said. "Cail and I took nearly forever to dig an opening big enough for the speeder to get through."

"Speaking of Cail," Nelkf said, glancing around as if expecting to find the third in their band, "where did he go?"

Jax looked confused. "He wasn't here when you woke up?"

Nelkf shook her head. "No, I thought he might've gone to the with you to get the papers."

Jax muttered and cursed aloud. Seeing Nelkf's puzzled expression, he motioned for her to follow him. "Come on. I bet I know where he is. We'd better go get him."

Nelkf still was confused, but as Jax began to walk away, she jumped out of the speeder to follow him. "Are you sure it's safe to leave the papers there like that?" she asked as they walked. "Won't somebody steal them?"

Jax shook his head. "This is Anchorhead, not Mos Eisley. I wouldn't leave them there that long, but we won't have much to worry about for a while."

Nelkf decided that there could've been worse places then Mos Eisley in the Universe, but she doubted she would find one in her lifetime. She didn't want to find one in her lifetime!

Nelkf was puzzled when Jax lead her to the entrance to yet another cantina. Why would Cail be here? Nelkf thought that maybe he had wanted to play sabacc and Jax just wanted him to stop so they could get going. But somehow, she doubted that was right.

At the entrance, Jax turned to Nelkf. "You don't have to follow me in if you don't want to," he told her, "I know it gets you set on edge."

That isn't even the word for it, Nelkf thought. But Jax might need her help. Besides, if she was going to get over her prejudices she was going to have to learn to deal with the quirks of other races. She shook her head. "No, it's okay Jax. I can deal with it."

Jax shrugged. "Okay, but I warn you, you probably won't like what you're about to learn."

Nelkf nodded in return. "Probably not."

Calmly, Nelkf followed Jax into the cantina.