A/n: Okay, so Li's a bit of a witch with a b sometimes, but you gotta forgive her. I mean, for crying our loud, her entire family was killed by this guy she was engaged to! Not to mention, she's spoiled rotten because her mother's rich. Eh, I prefer to call it a Leia complex. She thinks she has to be high and mighty all the time. *shrug*
Oh, and this first part, the "Blanket Argument" is a favorite among me and my friends. I'd love to have your feedback on it.
And, in case you're wondering, I got my wonderful understanding of Lando's personality (including the cigar habit) from The Lando Calrissian Adventures by L. Niel Smith. In my opinion, one of the better Star Wars books. ^_^ I definitely enjoyed it. (Mom: You should! You've only read it six times in the past two months!) ^_^;;;;
"Give it!" Li-Sen hissed.
Lando glared over his shoulder at her. "You! You've got all of it! And besides, it's freezing!"
"I know! And I do not have all of it! I'm over here shivering!"
"Well, so am I!"
The blanket was pulled back and forth as they exchanged harsh words, both refusing to surrender it. Lando gave one final yank, pulling the blanket out of Li-Sen's hands…and her onto him.
They stared at each other in surprised silence for a moment before Li-Sen finally righted herself, blushing a deep red. She snatched the blanket off the floor where it had fallen, momentarily forgotten, and stomped to the door of the lounge.
"I'm going to sleep in the cockpit and you can do whatever you damn well please!" she declared haughtily before stalking out.
Lando sat there on the table for a moment, stunned, before he finally shook himself out of it and jumped up, running down the corridor after her. "Li-Sen! I'm sorry! Really, I-Whoa!" He was thrown off his feet as the ship shuddered violently. "What the Core was that?"
His surprise was forgotten when he heard Li-Sen's scream. "Lando! Get in here!" He did, running as fast as he could, and threw himself right into the captain's chair.
"Get off me, you buffoon!"
"Hey!" He jumped up, glancing down at the bright red Li-Sen he had accidentally sat on. Sighing, he began to inspect the controls, which here going haywire. Lights everywhere were yellow and red and the cockpit was filled with the wail of numerous sirens and alarms. "What the Core is wrong with this hunk of junk?"
"There's some kind of creature out there!" Li-Sen exclaimed, obviously distressed…which was understandable. Lando glanced out the front view port. "Whoa!"
Outside, the orange sand was moving along with some creature. Lando reflected on the Naího report he'd read. Monsters. "Uh-oh."
"No, really?" Li-Sen snapped sarcastically. Lando glared in her general direction and she shut up.
"Our only hope is to get out of here, then!" He began pressing buttons in the correct sequence, but the engines whined to life…and promptly died. "What the-" He turned an accusing glare at Li-Sen. "What did you do to my ship?"
"I-I tuned it up! I told you! It started earlier!" she replied defensively.
"Well, it's not starting now!" he spat back. Flipping a few switches, Lando went to the door. "I'm going to check the circuitry. You keep an eye on things up here." He exited and sat down in front of the panel he knew led to the innards of the Millennium Falcon and opened it. "By the Eternal! What a mistake I made in letting you touch her at all!" He sighed. He had his work cut out for him.
"Well, sorry!" Li-Sen yelled from the cockpit. "But maybe if-"
Both yelled as the ship shook again. The creatures were obviously very near them. The sick realization came upon Li-Sen suddenly. They're trying to bury us! Abruptly, she yelped and Lando heard a muffled thud, as she was thrown aside from the door, out of sight.
"Li!" He jumped up, racing to the cockpit, not noticing
as Doxie whined and climbed into the cavity left with the paneling removed.
He pushed several wires with his paw. Now was the time to put his
mind to it's full potential.
When Lando got to the cockpit, Li-Sen was getting, unsteadily, to her feet, holding one side of her head.
"Li?" He hurried to support her, forgetting the ship and the plight they were in. He always helped his friends and Li-Sen could, by now, be considered that, despite what she'd done to his poor ship.
She looked up and smiled weakly, to convince him she was fine. "Don't worry about me, you idiot! Fix the ship! Get us out of here!"
All the same, her helped her into the co-pilot's seat, looking down as Doxie entered, yapping happily, before leaping into Li-Sen's lap.
"Try to start the ship," Li-Sen directed, realizing what the cog had done.
Lando raised an eyebrow at her and Doxerith, but did as she suggested
and started the ship. The sound of the engines rose from an idle
hum to a gentle roar. He gave Li-Sen a surprised, but approving look.
She just smiled knowingly and put her head back, patting Doxie. Slowly,
the ship rose into the atmosphere of Naího and sped away from the
tiny planet, to the great relief of all.
Millions of kilometers away, among the wreckage of the estate that had been destroyed by Uso-shi Jinn, an obscure figure crouched to inspect the ground. The estate, originally one square kilometer of beautiful, cultivated landscaping, was now a plant graveyard.
Hundreds of trees, including a small throng called affectionately by Li-Sen and Lady Genera "the back woods", lay scattered around the property, usually meters away from where they had once been upright. Bushes were piles of burned leaves and smoldering twigs. There were no flowers in sight, where before, they had been everywhere. Instead, the entire square kilometer was scattered with small flames that had not yet died.
And in the center of it all, the huge mansion, over a hundred professionally decorated rooms, was reduced to a pile of bricks, metal planks, and roof shingles. Occasionally, one could spot a protruding piece of furniture-maybe a couch, or the posts of Li-Sen's bed. Dust filled the normally turquoise blue swimming pool, turning it a brownish mud.
Reaching out, the figure pressed one of its four fingers against a metal plank stained by some dark liquid, which was still slightly wet. The figure's hand had four fingers, although there was a place where a fifth might have been, but was not. The hand went back inside the cloak and rose toward what might have been a mouth, but was obscured by the hooded black robe.
"Blood," hissed the figure after a moment of indecisiveness. There was a derisive snort and the hand came out of the robe again, this time to lower the hood, since it knew there was no chance of being seen. Everything on the estate was dead and destroyed, from the smallest cleaning 'droid to the human butler.
The hood, when lowered, revealed the head of a man who appeared to be in his early thirties, maybe slightly younger? He was fair of skin, and hair, but his eyes were a deep dark brown. They flared for a fleeting moment, an ethereal blue.
He looked down at the plank, imagining that a body lay below it.
"Good bye, Tae-Kai," he said to the imagined body of his half-sister's
mother. He stood. "And now off to find dear little sister Li…"
A/n: This is one of my favorite chapters. If you do decide to review, I'd love to hear your opinion of it. Was the Uso part too dark?
Oh, and by the way, it might interest you to know that Li-Sen has an annoying British accent. ^_^ Result of creating a StarWars character on British Day.