Chapter 4: Unusual Professions
The fire burned hot and the meat sizzled as it cooked, filling the air with a delicious aroma and making Trazu's stomach grumble. Trazu knew the hunk of meat he had on the improvised spit wasn't ready yet though, so he ignored his stomachs pleas to be fed for the time being, busying himself by stretching the skin he had just skinned off of a paralope along the frame he made. He had been doing a lot of 'busy' work like this as of late, in part due to the season and to help him keep his mind off that 'incident' he experienced a few months back, the memory of it stubbornly refusing to stay buried in the back of his mind completely.
The past few months had been hard on him emotionally. Confusing and conflicting thoughts had been swirling in his head trying to figure out just who to blame, if anyone, and what he did to deserve such a thing. There was of course, no real answer and eventually the questions and bouts of self doubt started to fade, only to be renewed occasionally when the memory came back to him in a flashback or nightmare.
It had taken him a while to get back to a 'normal' routine as well. For the first month or so he was extremely paranoid, avoiding any and all contact with other sentient life: he hadn't even knocked off any thugs during this time. Slowly he had come to realize it was silly to avoid everyone, even if his Ranger lifestyle easily allowed him to do so, and gradually started getting comfortable around people again. It was still hard though and he honestly didn't know how he would react if he came across another Trandoshan female: he wasn't even sure how'd he react if he happened upon her again. One thing was for certain: some of his fear had turned to anger and because of that he wasn't sure if he would run from her or just kill her outright.
The scent of charred flesh reached his nose and he realized he had let the meat cook a little too long. After setting down the frame he quickly removed the spit and inspected his meal. It was a bit charred on one side but was still editable, so he settled down and started eating.
As he ate he looked over at the small pile of skins he had gathered over the last month or so. Usually the skins he gathered were used to replace the fabric on his simple tent and blanket, but occasionally if the season had been good and the skins were of good quality he would stockpile a few to sell at the bazaar in Dearic. The skin he was stretching and drying today was the last one he intended to collect before going to Dearic, which was only a half days journey away. This along with any credits he looted off the thugs he killed were his main source of income, but since he owned no land or property that was taxable his bank account just kept growing, with the exception of the times he had to purchase or repair things.
As he bit into the hunk of meat he paused a moment when he thought he heard something. His pause was only for a split second, but enough for anyone that was observant would know he was now fully alert to his surroundings. Though he continued to eat at a normal pace, his eyes scanned the brush beyond his little camp. There. Movement. He spotted a slight rustle in the bush that was just behind his pile of skins. Pretending to not have noticed the disturbance, he watched the spot and slowly he realized one of his skins was being pulled away. With a barely audible snarl he reached down with one hand, picked up a decent sized stone and hurled it at the spot. There was a yelp of surprise as a result.
"Most thieves attempt to steal things of more immediate value." Trazu snarled, lowering the spit for a moment. "I suggest you show yourself before I am forced to hunt you down. It won't be a pleasant experience for you if it comes to that I promise you." For a moment the only sound and movement was from the fire, then the head of another Trandoshan poked out of the bush.
Trazu felt his muscles tighten: it was female, though thankfully not the same one as before. Her scales were slightly dark yellow ochre and her eyes were a pale gold, which was a less common coloration for his people. Even though it wasn't the same female, he felt a surge of fear and panic and had to fight to keep himself from running: apparently he wasn't as over it as he thought he was.
"You look as though you never seen a female of our race before." The female said, her voice low and a slightly submissive.
"Whether I have or not is none of your business." Trazu said sharply and defensively. "Why are you trying to steal my skins? Animal hides are not worth that much in raw form."
"I wasn't going to sell them…"
Trazu raised a brow. "Then want for? To make yourself some clothing out of them? If you need clothing there are charities in Dearic that would give you some at no cost."
"To make cloths yes…but not for myself." She stepped out fully and Trazu could see she was fully clothed, though her clothing was a bit tattered and patchy. He watched as she sat at the fire opposite of him, his hand checking to ensure his sword was close at hand subconsciously. "It's so I can get my tailoring business up and going…"
Despite his tension and paranoia, that stuck him as rather funny. His chuckles rapidly become full blown laughter and he had a hard time keeping himself from falling over. Trandoshan hands were ill suited for manipulating small objects thanks to their large claws: the image of a Trandoshan trying to sow was just plain laughable.
"My mother is a tailor." The female growled, looking thoroughly insulted. "She runs her own shop back home."
"If that's so…" Trazu said after he managed to calm himself down. "Why aren't you helping her with her shop?"
"I was. But mother wanted to see how viable it would be to expand our business to include clothing styles from other races. So she sent me and my sister off planet to study other styles and start up a small scale shop." She sighed and cast her eyes toward the ground. "However, for some reason dear mother left my sister in charge of the funds she loaned us…and before I knew it she had spent it all on late night parties, leaving us both broke and stranded on this planet. I took up a job as a waitress at the Cantina in Narshall to build up enough credits to get us back home or at least to Corillia where the job market is better, but my sister ran off a few months ago, claiming to have taken a one time stint to deliver something to Dearic. I haven't seen her since."
Trazu's eyes narrowed: the last part of her story got his full attention. Was it possible these two were related? "Did your…'sister'…happen to have golden green scales and orange eyes?" He in a faint snarl.
The female looked a bit taken back, whether it was due to his question, his hostile tone, or both who knows. "Yes…you met her? If so…do you know where she is?" She asked, a bit hesitantly.
"Yes I met her…" Trazu said with a scowl. "…and no I don't know where she is now. She could've been eaten by a Torton for all I care."
"Sounds like your experience with her was a bit…negative…"
"Gee whatever gave you that idea?" He growled, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "If you want my guess on where your skragging sister is she's likely with the Binyates: she'll fit right in with those scumbags."
"The pirates…" She looked a bit shocked. "I…knew her to be a bit reckless, rebellious even…but to join a pirate gang…I just can't see it."
"Boy are you naïve…"
"Hey! I can't watch my sister all hours of the day you know, nor do I want to." She spat. "I find some of her forms of 'entertainment' disgusting to be honest."
"We actually agree there miss." Trazu returned to eating his meal, which had gone cool due to the interruption. He watched her as he ate, noting she kept looking at his food. She did look a bit on the thin side, which likely meant she hadn't eaten well as of late. Wasn't his problem he felt, though something else about her bothered him, starting to drive him crazy with anxiety actually. "Just say it and get it over with." He growled finally between mouthfuls.
The female looked confused. "Say what?" She asked.
"I know you're going to say it, everyone that met me has so just say it and be done with it."
She spread her hands helplessly. "I honestly don't know what you are talking about."
"You blind as well as stupid lady?"
She growled at him, then surprised him by saying. "I am not blind, I just don't judge people by their appearance. Though I will admit your attitude is starting to make me wonder about your mental age."
He winced, realizing he was being a bit of an ass when she didn't deserve it: the fact he actually hadn't held a conversation with someone for a while didn't help. "Sorry." He said with a sigh, releasing the spit with one hand and letting that end drop a bit. "I have a hard time being comfortable around others these days, due to…" He stopped and shook his head. No he will not tell a complete stranger about that . "You're only the second person that didn't make an assumption about me based on my appearance." He said, changing the subject slightly. "It happened so often that I just automatically think everyone will make that assumption."
The female nodded sympathically. "I can only imagine the pain you had to go through growing up. I am a bit surprised you made it this far, considering how our people like to cast out those that are drastically different then what's considered the 'norm'."
"I have wondered about that myself." Trazu admitted. "Beyond the teasing I was pretty much left alone. Still, it was more then I could….wait a minute, just why am I telling you all this? I don't even know you."
"Tzosha. My name's Tzosha." She said. "There, now you know me."
"Knowing your name does not mean I know you." Trazu said, rolling his eyes. "Just means I have a name to go with the face now."
"It's a start isn't it?"
"What makes you think I even want to get to know you?"
"I suppose not…" Tzosha sighed. "Especially since I just attempted to steal from you."
"Be lucky I didn't just kill you." Trazu said bluntly. "I kill thugs on sight normally, it's something of a hobby of mine."
"A vigilante? Aren't there laws against taking the law into your own hands?"
"There supposedly is, but first off the police force on this planet is so corrupt it's a wonder the planet isn't a pirate stronghold. Second the government seems to care less what I do to the common thug: they figure if it keeps them from having to spend money on them it's just fine and dandy."
"Sounds like this wouldn't be a good place to set up a tailoring shop: seems like I am more likely to be robbed then get customers."
"Considering what you were trying to pull a minute ago I doubt you would get it off the ground anyway."
"I'm desperate ok? I want to go home and tell my mother what happened, but I don't want to be branded a failure either, even if it is my sisters fault. I don't even have an apartment and the Cantina in Dearic won't have me unless I have a place of residence. I would go back to Narshal but I don't have the credits to pay for transport."
"There are other places to find work besides Cantinas you know…"
"No one's hiring…I checked…"
"Considering how scrappy your clothes look I doubt many would hire you anyway…save for garbage pick up maybe…"
Tzosha scowled. "Your clothes aren't exactly 'pristine' either buster."
"But as a Ranger that is perfectly acceptable." He countered, smugly. "We're supposed to be 'rugged' looking."
"I doubt even a Ranger would let his clothing get so tattered and hole ridden that they wouldn't even be good for dishwashing."
Trazu scowled at her for a moment, then sighed and leaned back against a tree, setting the spit back over the fire. He lifted up one edge of his jacket and inspected it: the normally black leather was starting to turn brown in many places due to decay and wear and tear. It also had many holes in it, many of them the result of that fight with the male Trandoshan a few months back. Normally he wouldn't have let his clothes go like this, but his mental state of the past few months had given him very little motivation to go to town to get them patched up. "Alright you got me there." He admitted. He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it at her. "Get to work."
"Wha…you expect me to fix this?" Tzosha said, holding it up in disgust. "You'd be better off just replacing it with a new one."
"Look I still find it hard to believe you're a tailor, so prove it. If you impress me I may be able to help you in some way. How is for me to decide, if I decide to help you at all."
Tzosha growled, but didn't argue and Trazu watched as she took a small sewing kit out of her bag and got to work.