The Odd-Couple
-sparkvallen
Disclaimers: All the usual disclaimers still apply. I'm still not Uncle George! ;) Pharinseaya, Muac & Azyra are all based on friends and Rym is all mine.
Chapter Fourteen
With the Jedi re-dressed according to Muac's demands, they proceeded on foot through the lower, seedy levels of Coruscant dressed in combat fatigues as the security guard was. Muac had insisted on leading the way to the Prophet's contacts, having spoken with the Prophet before and received a fortune-telling which he considered a sham. As they walked, Pharinseaya kept her eye on Muac but kept her Force sensitivity targeted at the younger Jedi, Rym. It was clear that while Rym wanted his help, she wasn't pleased at his taking the assertive male leadership role. Still, the Knight-hopeful had remained quiet despite her past outbursts and Pharinseaya found that re-assuring.
Muac led them to another turbolift that took them down several levels lower on the city-planet. As the 'lift doors opened to a level where no sunlight ever reached, Pharinseaya felt a tingling of danger in the Force. Automatically, she shot forward, pulling out her lightsaber and igniting it. She held it inches from the face of another Human woman whose expression was clearly that of surprise.
"Excuse me!" the stranger exclaimed. "Could you please get your lasersword out of my face?"
Pharinseaya took one step backward, keeping the lightsaber trained on the other woman. Rym gasped behind her and Muac looked on with equal surprise. "State your business," the senior Knight snapped in an authoritative voice.
"Excuse me? I said to get that out of my face, Jedi."
"Speak. Now."
"Uh, Pharinseaya? I don't know what yer doin' but she's a Force sensitive ya know..." Rym said from behind her.
"I'm known as Azyra. I'm down here on the lower levels looking to procure some art supplies if you don't mind and the fact that you have your lightsaber ready to singe my nose hairs is definitely not scoring you points in the friend department," she snapped.
Pharinseaya moved the lightsaber away from the woman but kept it ignited and close at her side. "Be on your way, stranger."
"I don't think so," Azyra replied, her dark brown eyes fixing on those of Pharinseaya's in the gloom of artificial, ill-working light. "You're not walking away from this so easily after threatening me, Master Jedi." She made the honorific sound like a curse.
Muac just leaned his back against the turbolift wall and chuckled.
"Uh... she's got a point," Rym interjected. She could feel Pharinseaya's annoyance at her words, but plunged forward. "If Azyra here knows the lower levels, she and Muac might make a good team, ya know? Like how I was so indispeninflueI mean, I was so helpful to ya on Corellia."
Pharinseaya nodded. "Why were you looking for art supplies down here?"
Azyra rolled her eyes, clearly put off with the Jedi. With disdain clear in her voice, she replied, "Because I'm an artist. Because I needed supplies. And because despite the area, if you know where to look, you can get incredible deals for the hassle."
"Probably stolen," Muac said with a wink.
"Not my problem, is that?" Azyra challenged, glancing at him.
He shrugged.
Pharinseaya said, "Alright, so you're down here to buy art supplies, fine. I don't sense any duplicity from you on that. But my colleague is right that you're Force sensitive, Miss Azyra."
"IJust/i Azyra," she corrected, clutching his sketchpad against her side. "And what of it? Not everybody who has certain skills need be a Jedi. There are already too many of you in my esteemed opinion."
Azyra flashed a look in Rym's direction and the young Jedi flushed.
Muac chuckled again, watching the battle of wills. He could stand back and watch the women fight all day; besides, it was amusing in a twisted sort of way to watch Pharinseaya get riled up. She definitely had his attention.
Pharinseaya put her hands on her hips. "Alright, fine. Keep your skills as they are without developing them. That's a side issue and I'm sorry I brought it up. Muac, do you need Azyra here to help guide us along in our quest?"
He shrugged. "Eh, I don't mind if she tags along. She is kinda cute and all."
Azyra did a pirouette, smirking as Pharinseaya frowned. Rym bit back a laugh - barely - the amusement at his comment clear in her eyes.
"Fine. Whatever," the Jedi Knight said. Looking back to Azyra, she said, "We're looking to meet with the Prophet. It is said he keeps his quarters down here. Do you know anything about that?"
"Only that he's not worth the credits he costs for a reading," the brown haired artist replied.
"Ditto that," Muac chimed in.
Pharinseaya nodded. "Yes, so we've heard. Would you be interested in traveling with us for a time? It might be useful to have a resourceful woman such as yourself in our company."
Rym smiled, sensing the power that fueled Azyra as well, the raw untrained Force powers the woman employed in her words and presence. She would be an asset, and like Rym too, perhaps there was a possibility of her choosing to train in the Jedi Arts.
Azyra shrugged. "I don't have anywhere I need to be immediately considering that the supplies I came to purchase were... unavailable anyway. I'll hang out with you for the time being."
"Very well then. Let's go. Muac? Lead the way."
He nodded and took the point position of their motley band. Azyra followed behind him, speaking to the security guard of various points of interest found in the lower levels, both alluring and intimidating. She seemed to certainly know her way around which surprised the Jedi; she seemed too well dressed and 'together' to belong in the Corscanti lower levels.
With only a quarter of an hour's walk, the team stopped in front of a boarded up storefront. It appeared that it had not been used in some time.
"Here we are..."
Pharinseaya and Rym both made faces. "Here?"
Muac nodded. "This is the address I was given."
"You don't have to stay with us if ya don't wanna," Rym said to Azyra. "We're here to see if this Prophet has the makings of a Jedi. But I dunno if this could get messy or what-not."
"I can hold my own," was her stoic reply.
Muac - as the former customer - took the lead in the exchange, knocking on the boarded-up doorway to signal their presence to whomever was inside waiting. The group waited several seconds before a voice on the other side said, "You seek he who knows all, who can foresee great and terrible things. State your business here."
"I seek another message from the Prophet," Muac replied steadily, "as my fortune has yet to be delivered to me."
Pharinseaya smiled, impressed with that response.
"The Prophet is not here right now," came the response through the door. "Even if he were, he is not pleased with your associates."
Rym and Pharinseaya exchanged glances. How could he be displeased with Muac's associates if he was not even there?
"May we wait for him?" Muac asked as politely as he could manage, irritated at the slight toward the Jedi and the artist.
"That is your choice, as always. But the Prophet is not pleased."
Rym shook her head and spoke up. "How can he be 'not pleased' with us if he ain't even here?"
Azyra flicked a gaze from one Jedi to the other and then to the security guard. "Fools. You, especially," she said to Muac. "The Prophet is not a 'he' at all. You can't tell me you didn't realize that Muac?"
Simultaneously, the trio snapped, "WHAT!"
Azyra let a smile play along her painted lips, clearly amused at the deception. "You came searching for a 'he' when the Prophet is female. How silly. Pharinseaya had it right from the beginning when she threatened me with the lightsaber for I AM the Prophet you seek."
Rym's jaw dropped, clearly shocked, despite having sensed the Force about the artist. Pharinseaya's eyes narrowed, studying the woman through the Force. Muac just stared.
"Are you a threat to us, Prophet Azyra?" Pharinseaya asked, regaining her equilibrium.
Azyra's smiled was fixed on her face. "That depends. To some, I am very much a threat. To others, I am not. What is your perception of me?"
Rym shook her head, recognizing the word puzzle as the very sorts that Master Skywalker would challenge her mind with on Yavin IV. What was the line of being a Jedi? Or not?
Pharinseaya matched the smile with one of her own. "Point taken. Well, you already realize our intentions in seeking you out. And we immediately recognized you as genuinely Force sensitive. You know why we are here. Are your thoughts the same as they were at the 'lift?"
Azyra shrugged loosely. "Now why would I want to go and become a Jedi, tell me that, when I have all the power I need and fools like Muac here will willingly PAY me for it?"
Muac started. "Hey now! I am standing here! You better watch your mouth, lady. I oughta"
"Muac!" Pharinseaya snapped. "That will be enough!"
"HEY!"
She fired him a look that would melt the snowy terrain of Hoth. Turning back to Azyra, Pharinseaya said, "I can appreciate your point of view, Azyra. I am sure in an economy such as the merchants face, it is difficult to earn enough credits to survive on. The Order meets our needs as Jedi so I am less affected by that. Haven't you"
Rym cut in, sensing what Pharinseaya was going to say. This would come better from her, she knew. "Haven't you ever thought to yerself that you were cut out to do more? I mean... I grew up bein' a mechanic on Corellia. A garage rat, ya know? Pharinseaya found me there and at first, whoo boy did we not get along. But with time, we worked that out. An' when she first offered to take me to the Jedi Academy, I spaced in a big way! But now... heh, I guess I know this is what was 'sposed to be my destiny."
Azyra nodded, pretending to listen. "That is all well and fine since that is your destiny, Jedi Svoby. Who are you both to say that that is also mine?"
"ButBut I'm down here on a mission to see if you will become a Jedi so I can earn my Knighthood!" Rym said in almost a whining tone.
Azyra's eyes widened. "You must be joking."
"She speaks the truth," Pharinseaya said. "Master Skywalker had heard rumors of the Prophet, Azyra, and asked Rym and I to travel here to seek you out in the hopes that yes, you would be Force sensitive and that you would also be interested in training. Rym faces her Jedi Trials with this mission."
"So? The way I look at this, you people, is that your mission was to seek me out. You did. Your mission was to proposition me with your Jedi ways. You did. The fact that I'm disclined to accept the offer means what in the face of her Trials? You did your jobs. Now, leave me be. I have my art and my work here. I don't need the solidarity of the Jedi Order on top of it," Azyra said firmly.
Rym looked crest-fallen. Pharinseaya's expression was more controlled though she felt as disappointed as her friend. Muac just looked put-off.
"Now wait a second," he said. "You gave me a bogus fortune, Prophet Azyra and I want my credits back!"
She cocked her head in his direction. "And how do you slice that one, exactly?"
Muac said, "You told me something 'big' was coming into my life. And I'm still a guard on a transport. How do you figure anything's coming?"
Azyra flashed him a genuine, knowing smile then looked from Muac's face to Pharinseaya's. She left it unspoken though her meaning was more than clear to them all. The guard and the Jedi Knight exchanged wide-eyed stares and Azyra laughed out loud.
"Now, if you'll excuse me. I believe I was on my way to the upper levels for art supplies. I'm sure you can find your way back to the surface," Azyra said. Turning her back to them, she walked back to the lift without another word.
"Sithspit," Rym cursed, heedless of the sudden tension and energy between Pharinseaya and Muac. "Now I'll never be a Knight."
Pharinseaya whirled around to her Rym, leaving everything with Muac unspoken, she was so startled by the evident meaning of Azyra's fortune for him. "Rym, Azyra the Prophet was more or less right. We did complete our mission but we can't force anyone to the path we walk. I'm sure Master Skywalker will understand that..."
Rym sighed, hoping that the woman who'd been a semi-mentor to her was right. "I guess we jes' go back and find out..."
"I'll accompany you," Muac said immediately, startling them both.
"What?"
"I said that I'll accompany you back to Yavin IV. Maybe Azyra was right. Maybe you are the 'something big' that's come into my life... and I mean that only in terms of 'big' in terms of your Force power, Pharinseaya. I can't deny an interest in you any longer."
Pharinseaya gaped. "IWow. I don't know what to say about that right now, Muac, but if you want to travel with us to Yavin IV, if that makes your Bantha ride, so be it."
