Disclaimer: This still isn't mine folks. Get over it.
Author's Notes: Thanks to Trillian4210 for beta-ing this chapter! Major kudos! She did such a great job critiquing… -applause- Now you readers… ENJOY!
XxXxX
Chapter Sixteen: The Sand People
Alaanis woke up early the next morning. She hadn't slept very well and she just wanted to get up and get things done. She was worried. The dark Jedi attack reminded her of how dangerous this really was. She had expected everyone to be fine in the end… but the farther the journey continued, the more she wondered about this end that they'd eventually reach.
And would they still be together at this end?
Rolling out of bed quietly, Alaanis hurried to the 'fresher. She wanted to be able to sneak out with just a few crew members to visit the sand people. Mission would want to come… but it was too dangerous. As much as Mission didn't want to admit it, she was young.
She had once brought up the argument of how young Juhani and Bastila were.
"They're Jedi, Mission," Alaanis had told the Twi'lek. "They can fight. I'm not saying you aren't capable… because I'm worried about everybody in our party when we fight. I fear for them getting hurt."
It was true. Alaanis worried about her crewmates and that something would happen to them. They hadn't been together for a very long time but they had all grown as friends. Or at least most of them had… Alaanis mused reminding herself of the tension between Canderous and basically every other companion.
Canderous was respectable in Alaanis' opinion; it's just that his methods were so different from the beliefs of the Republic and the Jedi. His motto was that the end defined the means. Not everyone felt that way.
The scoundrel wondered who exactly to bring along with her as she rubbed her eyes. It was too dangerous for Mission, and Alaanis couldn't drag Zaalbar along and just leave Mission behind. She refused to bring Bastila unless she was left with no other choice, as the younger jedi would certainly not agree with whatever Alaanis was probably doing. Whoever was awake would have to do… perhaps Carth would like to come…
Grabbing her oversized bag and walking out of the room quietly, a whisper stopped her.
"Going somewhere?" Juhani asked as she sat up in her bed.
Hesitantly, Alaanis nodded. "Yeah… I didn't want too many people to come with me to see the Sand People."
"I would be happy to accompany you, but only if you would have me along," the Cathar replied. Alaanis smiled and nodded. She left the room to see if anyone else was awake, leaving Juhani to dress and prepare.
Carth was lying in the cockpit as usual, his head leaning back in his chair and his eyes closed. Alaanis had expected to find him there if he was awake or otherwise. It wasn't the first time he'd slept in the cockpit.
"Hey flyboy," she greeted him gently, placing a hand on his shoulder to wake him up.
"Good morning beautiful," he murmured as he blinked and sat up. He gave her a small smile. "Leaving so early?"
"Going to see the sandpeople takes half a day at least. I'd thought I'd get an early start. I don't want to bring too many people with me, but Juhani's coming and of course we need to bring HK. I was wondering if you'd join us," Alaanis explained to the pilot.
Carth tilted his head to the side. "Sure, why not? Two Jedi, an assassin droid and a Republic pilot are in the desert. Sounds like the start of a bad joke. But won't Bastila get annoyed if you're not around when she gets up?"
"I'll get T3 to tell everybody where we went," Alaanis shrugged. She patted Carth's shoulder and then started out of the cockpit. "Come on, let's get moving!"
XxXxX
Half an hour later found Carth, Alaanis, HK-47 and Juhani all passing by the door leading into the Tatooine dune seas. Alaanis handed the guard her hunting license.
"Good hunting," the guard said, handing it back. They passed the gate.
"So… where are we going exactly?" Carth asked after a moment of walking around.
Alaanis sighed. "I don't know really… I doubt the sandpeople are going to be very welcoming when they see us coming towards their camp."
"Query: Master, can we just not kill these meatbags and save ourselves time?" HK interjected. Carth took a step away from the droid which walking behind him. Alaanis smirked.
"Sorry HK, but I want to try at least try and negotiate," Alaanis answered. "But if we come across anything that attacks us, you can go right ahead and attack it back." If HK had the ability, Alaanis was sure he would've perked up.
"So what do you suggest we do?" questioned Juhani.
The older Jedi looked in the distance and saw a large, smoking vehicle. "I think that we should go see what happened at that sandcrawler," she muttered before walking a bit faster towards the smoldering wreckage. Carth shrugged and followed her along with Juhani and HK.
"What happened here?" Alaanis asked as she came across a group of five men in Czerka uniforms, all holding guns nervously.
"We're not soldiers! We can't fight the sandpeople, but they attacked us before… there were around twenty of us," said the oldest of the group. He had a nest of grey hair on his sunburned head. "We've been out here since last night when the sandpeople first attacked us. We found refuge in this downed sandcrawler."
"Do you need any help?" Alaanis asked the man. He shook his head.
"No… there's nothing you can do unless you have direct contact with Czerka headquarters," the employee sighed. Then he jerked his head up. Alaanis had heard it too. A sharp cry of fury arose from the west. Another cry joined it, along with multiple more.
"Is that…?" she asked the man who nodded his head.
"Those are sandpeople cries," he told her. "And they're coming this way." He gripped his gun tighter. "Can you help us to fight them?"
Alaanis nodded. "We'll do what we can." She ignited her yellow and violet sabers while Juhani turned on her blue ones. Carth lifted his blasters and HK seemed like he would've been licking his lips with anticipation for the coming battle….if he could've.
Then the sandpeople came.
There were ten of them charging in their direction from the west. They wore sandy colored robes that matched the shades of the dune sea. Their helmets were fashioned by what looked like hulak ward horns, teeth and skin. Four of them carried gaffi sticks, but six of them were shooting blaster rifles at the Czerka miners. Carth and HK quickly began returning fire.
"Statement: Die meatbags die!" HK exclaimed as he knocked the butt of his blaster rifle into the gut of one of the sandpeople.
Alaanis quickly jumped into the crossfire and deflected as many of the blaster shots as possible, ricocheting them back at the sandpeople with her lightsabers. Juhani jumped right into the fray and with a battle cry began fighting ferociously with her own glowing blades.
A couple of the miners pulled out melee weapons and began charging back at the sandpeople but to no avail. Three of the miners were dead within moments. They could not face these warriors. They were not soldiers, as the oldest miner had declared.
Juhani, however, was leaping forward, attacking the sandpeople who carried gaffi sticks. They were worthy opponents, parrying Juhani's blows, but they weren't familiar with the Force. The Cathar used this against them as she used the Force to speed up her attacks and was able to strike down three of them down in minutes.
Carth was dodging blaster fire as he hid half of himself behind the sandcrawler. He jumped out to blast away the sandpeople every chance he got. One of the blasting sandpeople charged towards him and Carth shot him in the gut once, twice, and then three times before the creature finally collapsed onto the ground.
HK was clearly enjoying himself as he repeatedly shot at three different sandpeople. They returned their fire at HK, but the droid's protective armor deflected the bolts and so did no damage to him. He continued with his exclamations and threats to the 'meatbags' attacking him.
Alaanis tried to protect the two miners left alive, but as the last gaffi-wielding sandperson charged towards her she failed in her attempt. The sandperson gave her a quick uppercut, knocking her to the side. She quickly picked herself up, but it was too late-- the two last miners were shot by the two other sandpeople left with blasters. An extreme pang of guilt ran through the Jedi's mind as the two miners fell, dead before they hit the ground, with pained last expressions on their faces.
Juhani rushed over to where Alaanis was battling the sandperson who had knocked her to the side. The Cathar easily sliced through the flesh of the two blaster-carrying sandpeople, killing them before they could've even tried to shoot. With that, the battle had ended. With all their opponents dead, Carth and HK walked over to where the two Jedi stood.
Alaanis' chin was bleeding, but she ignored it and turned off her lightsabers as she knelt in front of the dead miners. She bowed her head and Juhani, turning off her lightsabers behind Alaanis, copied her motions. Carth and HK were silent.
Alaanis stood up again and turned away from the dead bodies, not wanting to look at the rigid faces of those she had failed to protect.
"Let's get moving," she decided. Carth stopped her before she could take a step.
"It's not your fault Alaanis," he told her as she avoided his gaze. The Jedi glared hard at the ground near Carth's feet.
"I should've been able to protect them, but I didn't. Because of me they're dead."
"They would've died anyways if we hadn't showed up," Juhani pointed out. "The sandpeople would've come and killed them."
Alaanis shook her head, even as the words sunk in and she knew that Juhani was right.
"Query: Master, would you like me to kill something for you to cheer you up?"
Alaanis chuckled dryly at HK. Carth looking a bit disgusted, Alaanis sat down on the sand.
"We still don't have a plan on how to get to the sand people," she reminded them. Carth and Juhani sat down and they sat in silence, trying to think of an idea.
A few moments passed until she caught sight of one of the dead sandpeople lying in the sand. She heard a Tusken call somewhere far from where they were in the dune seas, a fell voice on the barely existent wind. An instinctual reaction to an approaching Tusken would be to pretend that she and her party were sand people too. Perhaps by disguising themselves as Sand People they could ward off an attack. And there were dead sandpeople, complete with sandpeople clothes right here…
"Wait… I've got an idea!" Alaanis exclaimed, standing up abruptly. Carth looked at her curiously. Alaanis told the others her idea for disguise to prevent further attacks. "They might tell that we're not up close, but it's something to try. Hopefully they'll be surprised enough to talk to us," she said, shrugging.
"Query: Master, wouldn't it be simpler to just kill-"
"No HK we're going to try and negotiate," Alaanis sighed as she repeated what she had already decided. She peeled off the Tusken clothes of one of the dead creatures. Juhani and Carth shrugged and followed her example.
They each threw on the sand people robes and helmets over their clothes and armor. Alaanis' helmet felt rather big and Juhani had trouble putting hers on with her topknot. Carth was a little broad for the clothes he was wearing, but they all blended in well enough.
"Query: Master, what of myself?" HK asked Alaanis.
"I'm sure the sandpeople have a few droids and won't be too shocked if we carry you with us," Alaanis told the droid, her helmet muffling her voice a bit.
"I really hope this plan of yours works Alaanis," Carth told her. "I don't know if we can take on an entire sandpeople village."
Alaanis didn't answer him. She really hoped her plan would work too.
XxXxX
"She left!" Bastila shrieked at the small astromech droid.
T3 backed off a little before replying with a few beeps. Bastila seemed ready to explode. In the common room, Mission, Zaalbar, Canderous, Jolee and Bastila had all just listened to the recording Alaanis had left with T3.
"Get over it princess, we can't all play tagalong with her when she has things to do," Canderous growled. He stood up and began to walk out of the room. Bastila muttered about 'obnoxious Mandalorians' as Canderous left the room.
"Don't get in a titter girlie," Jolee told her. "Alaanis can take care of herself. She's a big girl. And she'll be back by the end of the day. Don't worry."
Mission seemed to be pouting a bit too as she sat on her couch next to Zaalbar, her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. "I can't believe she didn't ask me to come along. She brought her loverboy and a jedi who's only for three years on me. It's my brother those sandpeople have captive!"
":Maybe she thought it was safer to leave you behind Mission:" Zaalbar woofed. Mission didn't look the Wookie's way but Jolee nodded, seemingly agreeing.
"She can't drag everyone along into the Tatooine desert," Jolee mumbled.
Bastila huffed as she paced the common room. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. "I've got to go after her," the Jedi declared. Jolee made a disapproving noise. "Why are you objecting this, old man? It's obvious why you left the Jedi, you have none of their wisdom. She can't be left alone and you know that!"
Mission and Zaalbar ignored the look Bastila fervently gave Jolee. The old man shook his head. "Alaanis is not a child. She's older than you girlie, though not as old or wise as I. And I don't want your speech on why I should return to the Order. I have no interest in returning."
Bastila sighed lightly. "Are you so sure you don't want to return to the Jedi?" It was a sharp change of topic, but it was obvious that the two jedi were unable to speak about Alaanis much in the company of others without the possibility of having something slip. Bastila found it smarter to avoid the topic whatsoever when speaking with the old man.
"I've been expecting this talk for a while, but I don't want to go back. The jedi and I have different ideals. They don't want to hear mine so why should I have to hear theirs?" Jolee grumbled.
The younger Jedi opened her mouth to say something and then thought better of it as she left the room. I need to meditate… maybe I can speak to Alaanis through the force bond…
XxXxX
The two Tatooine suns were just beginning their descent in the sky as Alaanis, Juhani and Carth, disguised as sand people and accompanied by HK, arrived at the sand people enclave.
Avoiding any close contact with the sand people roaming around the outside of the large tented area where they lived, the four companions arrived at the entrance. A Tusken guard stood and exclaimed something in his own language that Alaanis didn't need HK's translation to know. They had been recognized.
"Statement: Apparently, your disguise has failed you Master. Translation: We are not welcome. This meatbag is curious as to our presence here and if we have come to fight or not."
"HK, tell him quickly that we come in peace and that we mean no harm," Alaanis said hurriedly. HK translated and the guard made a reply.
"Translation: The meatbag says he is listening and to make your offer quickly before he attacks. Request: Master, it would be so much simpler to just kill…"
"No HK," Alaanis said sternly. She pulled off the sandperson helmet she was wearing and the Tusken made a small exclamation. "Tell him that we want to see his leader and strike a bargain about any prisoners he may be holding. Also, we wish to speak about their war with Czerka."
HK reluctantly translated for Alaanis. The guard took a moment before making a quick reply and motioned for Juhani, Alaanis, Carth and HK to follow him.
"Translation: The meatbag said that he will be watching you but will take you to his leader."
Alaanis, Carth, Juhani and HK were led through the sand people enclave through multiple rooms, but Alaanis made sure to memorize the path out of the enclave just in case things went wrong. The four companions were stopped by the entrance guard—and three others who had joined him—at a rather extravagant tent flap. Alaanis guessed it must've led into the sandpeople chieftain's room.
HK translated that the guards instructed them to take off their borrowed clothing and then further to remove their robes and armor. Alaanis, Juhani and Carth were left in thin layers of clothing. Alaanis hadn't realized how used to her Jedi robes she had become until this moment. She was wearing her rather simple jumpsuit she usually wore under them whereas Juhani was wearing less revealing clothing in a plain shirt and trousers. Carth was instructed to remove his rather baggy pants and was left in shorts and a skin-tight T-shirt. Alaanis couldn't help but glance at his well-formed figure.
"Um… why are our clothes being removed exactly?" Alaanis asked HK as Carth caught her staring and winked. She was blushing just slightly.
One of the guards said something in his native tongue.
"Translation: These meatbags says they will not allow you in front of their chieftain armed. He says that if you come in peace, as you disgustingly said you did, you will not need your weapons."
"'Disgustingly'?" Alaanis quirked an eyebrow.
"Explanation: Master, the guard did not express that emotion, I did."
Carth muttered something that sounded like 'psycho droids' and HK seemed to shift his hand holding his blaster rifle.
The guards then made sure to remove HK's obvious weapons (though Alaanis was sure there were multiple hidden ones) before they allowed the four of them before their chieftain.
The sandpeople chieftain seemed like most of the other sandpeople, except around his neck was a necklace composed of fangs from multiple creatures from the Tatooine dune seas. Alaanis recognized dewbacks, hulak wards and of course, one looked like it was from a krayt dragon. As far as Alaanis knew, the sandpeople considered banthas to be holy and would never slay one.
The chieftain said something that obviously expressed surprise. "Translation: The leader meatbag demands that you state your purpose for coming to his enclave. Request: Master, may I tell him it is in hopes of exterminating his tribe?"
"No HK!" Alaanis exclaimed for what seemed like the hundredth time. He really wants to kill these sandpeople doesn't he? Maybe I made a mistake buying him…
"Tell him we'd like to strike a bargain for a prisoner of his named Griff, a Twi'lek," Alaanis told HK. The assassin droid translated and the chieftain seemed jubilant with joy by his tone.
"Translation: Apparently, the meatbag says you can have the Twi'lek meatbag without even striking up a bargain."
Alaanis smirked. That sounded like what everybody but Mission thought of Griff. They'd give him away freely. "HK, also ask him if we could strike up a bargain for his people to stop fighting with Czerka and to leave the area to them to mine. Perhaps to move further into the desert."
HK translated what Alaanis had said and the chieftain took a moment before making a lengthy reply. "Translation: The meatbag leader said that he will ask his people to stop attacking the people you call Czerka if you do him a favor. Apparently his people are attempting to expand. The meatbag will stop these attacks if you bring him moisture vaporators so that his people can do so.
"Statement: It is likely that these moisture vaporators are expensive and difficult to retrieve," HK interjected into his own translation before Alaanis could comment. "Eager Request: Can we not save ourselves the trouble and simply annihilate these irritating and rather ugly meatbags? Not that any meatbags are very appealing… outside of you of course, master."
Carth backed another step away from HK. Alaanis almost laughed out loud at that but instead gave HK a stern look. "How many times do I need to tell you that murder is a last resort and not our main objective? Well… us living organic's objective," Alaanis added under her breath, remembering HK's assassination protocols. "We're going to try and NEGOCIATE first!
"Tell him we'll be back tomorrow with his moisture vaporators," Alaanis instructed the droid. HK sullenly translated for Alaanis and if he could've pouted, he would have. "And we'll take the Twi'lek then too." The chieftain seemed to join in with HK's pouting at hearing that statement.
XxXxX
Unfortunately, without the sand people clothes on, Alaanis, Carth, Juhani and HK had to fend off multiple attacks on their way back through the dune seas of Tatooine as the two suns set. It had become rather late at night by the time the four returned to Anchorhead.
The guard at the entrance asked if they had had a good hunt. Alaanis murmured something or other the guard took as an answer. Walking all day had taken its toll on her. She needed some sleep.
But once on the Ebon Hawk, the Jedi knew she wouldn't get any sleep until Bastila had her say.
"What in the name of the Force were you thinking?" Bastila exclaimed loudly as Alaanis, Carth, Juhani and HK arrived back on the ship. Bastila was standing in the common room, her hands on her hips. Zaalbar was also in the common room along with Mission who had fallen asleep on the Wookie.
"Mission appears to be sleeping, perhaps we should not wake her?" Juhani suggested lightly.
Mission groaned from her spot on Zaalbar and her eyes blinked open as she sat up straighter. "Bastila already woke me up. Real considerate Jedi stuff on keeping your voice down when people are sleeping, eh?"
Bastila's eyes narrowed.
She calmed down a little bit as Alaanis heard her reciting the Jedi code in her head through their Force bond. "I was almost expecting you to use the Force bond to pester me about leaving without you," Alaanis stated.
"I tried to," Bastila admitted. "But I couldn't get through to you."
Alaanis shrugged. "Maybe that's the consequence for getting angry so easily. Maybe you should've calmed down a bit. I'm not a kid, and I'm older than you anyways Bastila. Why are you being such a worrywart? I'm a big girl. And Juhani and Carth aren't little kiddies either. We were fine."
Bastila didn't seem to want to answer the question and her eyes fell to the ground. She was saved Alaanis' prying, though, as Mission interrupted.
"Since Bastila already expressed enough annoyance about you not taking us or even talking to us before you left, I guess I won't snap at you," Mission decided, yawning lightly. "Did you hear anything about Griff?" She looked at Alaanis' chin for a second and seemed ready to say something more, but didn't.
"Yeah," Alaanis said truthfully. "The sandpeople will give him to us tomorrow. They seem glad to be rid of him."
Mission ignored the insult to her brother and decided she was going to go off to bed. Zaalbar left the common room as well, followed by Bastila and Juhani. Alaanis began following them before Carth stopped her.
"Nobody else seemed to have the courage to tell you so I guess I'm stuck telling you that you've got a nasty bruise on your chin along with a nice cut on it," Carth explained. "Nothing much, but since you were wearing a Tusken helmet and trudging around in the desert with sand whipping around you, I think injecting some kolto would be a smart idea."
Alaanis was about to object about being fine, injured or not, but Carth held up a finger to her lips. She looked up at him grudgingly as he led her to the medical room. She sat down on the bed and Carth rummaged through a couple cabinets looking for some kolto.
"You'd have thought we could find some kolto easily in this place," Carth muttered as he rummaged a bit more. Alaanis felt rather sleepy and she laid her head down on the bed. Just for a moment of rest…
Finally Carth found some kolto and turned around, ready to inject it when he saw Alaanis sleeping peacefully on the bed. He smirked to himself and injected the healing substance. She continued to sleep, rolling over onto her side a bit.
She was awkwardly positioned on the bed with her legs completely dangling off. Carth lifted her legs and set her properly onto the medical bed. Her hair was wildly running over her face and he tucked it back behind her ears.
Carth stared at Alaanis for a moment, watching her sleep lightly. In his thirty-eight years he had only watched two other people sleep in his life: Morgana and Dustil. And they were both dead now…
But Alaanis was here, lying in a bed, sleeping peacefully. Carth watched her involuntarily hug her shoulders. Carth grabbed a spare blanket in the room and covered her with it before walking out of the room, a small smile on his face.
XxXxX
The next morning, Alaanis woke up, disoriented, before she remembered she had fallen asleep in the medical bay. She felt a light tingle in her chin.
Carth! That schutta! He injected me with the kolto when I was sleeping! He'd get an earful from her later… stabbing a sleeping person with a needle! Eh… maybe she shouldn't waste her time…
Speaking of later, what time is it? Alaanis stared at her chronometer and noticed that it was just short of eight in the morning. Yawning, the Jedi stood up and set the blanket on one of the two chairs in the medical room before walking out.
It was rather odd sleeping in all those Jedi robes. A bit uncomfortable because of all the creases and hidden pockets in it, but still not too bad. Back in the starboard dormitory, both Bastila and Juhani were waiting for Alaanis.
"We just woke up and you weren't in here," Bastila said quietly, this time a bit more concerned about waking Mission up.
"I fell asleep in the medical bay," Alaanis stated simply. She looked instinctively for her bag before remembering she had left it in the common room when Carth had told her he should treat her injury the previous night.
"Bastila, I would say you could come, but the sandpeople only met Carth, Juhani, HK and me so I think it really isn't that smart to bring along a strange new outsider with us," Alaanis told the younger jedi as Bastila trailed Alaanis out of the starboard dormitory. Juhani wasn't far behind.
"Your reasoning makes sense," Bastila nodded her head. "Alright."
Alaanis smiled at the chestnut-haired jedi as she slung her bag over her shoulder. Bastila gave Alaanis a small smile. The latter walked out of the common room and checked the cockpit to see if Carth was there. Surprisingly enough, he wasn't sleeping in the cockpit. Alaanis walked back through the ship and found him sleeping rather peacefully in the port dormitory. Jolee was snoring and Canderous let loose a bit of a snort every now and then. Carth was snoring quietly and Zaalbar seemed to have a strange rhythmic assortment of different pitched woofs and growls escaping his mouth while he slept.
She laid a hand on Carth's shoulder and kneeled down on her knees before leaning into his ear. "Good morning, flyboy!" she exclaimed quietly enough so that it wouldn't wake the others, but loud enough to cause Carth to jump a little as his eyes opened.
His head turned towards her and his scowl seemed to disappear. "Morning beautiful," Carth said quietly.
Alaanis cocked her head to one side. "What, no smart remark about whispering in your ear to wake you up?" the scoundrel asked the pilot. "By the way, it's not nice to stick needles into sleeping people. Especially when they don't need it!" Carth rolled his eyes a bit as he sat up and stepped out of bed.
"We're leaving soon so don't take long in the 'fresher!" Alaanis told him as he left the dormitory, waving a hand dismissively at her comment.
Within twenty minutes Alaanis, Juhani, Carth and HK were walking towards the Czerka supply store to buy the moisture vaporators. The worker at the counter, a Rodian, looked awfully bored as he pointed sold two moisture vaporators to the offworlders.
Much like the previous day, the four trudged through the Tatooine dune seas for hours, HK carrying the moisture vaporators and complaining about the misuse of his many functions. Alaanis threatened to deactivate him after a while and he stopped complaining.
The guard at the entrance to the Tusken enclave showed quite the surprise in his tone as he beckoned the outsiders to enter inside. They were, again, brought to the chieftain, though this time they were only relieved of their obvious weapons and not made to go through a strip search… much to Alaanis' relief.
"Translation: This meatbag leader shows surprise that we returned," HK interpreted the sandpeople language as the chieftain spoke. "He is grateful that you did indeed bring him his moisture vaporators."
"Will his people stop their fighting with Czerka and leave the area near Anchorhead alone?" Alaanis asked the droid.
HK spoke with the chieftain briefly before translating. "Translation: The meatbag said that he made a bargain with you and is keeping the bargain. However, if we attack any of his people, the deal will be broken. He also says that he wants you to take the captive Twi'lek immediately."
Alaanis bowed her head in respect, but before she left she had another thing to ask. "HK could you ask the chieftain if he knows anything about a Star Map, an ancient artifact or a krayt dragon cave nearby?"
HK growled out the sandperson language what Alaanis had asked and the chieftain made a reply. "Translation: This meatbag says he has heard tell of a strange ancient object near a krayt dragon's cave. He claims to have a map of the Eastern Dune Seas where some of his people travel as well as some other tribes. He will give you this map, but he cannot guarantee that the sandpeople in the territory will not attack you as he cannot control them." The chieftain handed Alaanis a map on dried and old paper. I guess they are rather primitive, Alaanis thought to herself as she pocketed the map.
"Tell him thank you for everything and that we'll take the Twi'lek if somebody can lead us to him," Alaanis concluded the conversation. The chieftain muttered something to a guard on his right who nodded and led the outsiders out of the chieftain's room.
Through a few tented hallways, Alaanis, Juhani, Carth and HK were led to a tied up flap which the guard opened with his vibroblade. Inside was a frightened-looking green Twi'lek who appeared to be in his early twenties.
"Did Czerka send you to save me?" Griff stuttered in galactic Basic. "Because I am a high ranking official at Czerka and there is a large reward for my rescue."
Alaanis exchanged looks with Carth and Juhani just stared at the Twi'lek. "Cut the chatter Griff. We're friends of Mission's and I don't know much about you so I can't say much. I'll leave whatever needs to be said to Mission."
Grif's eyes bugged out slightly as he caught a glance of Alaanis and Juhani's lightsabers. "Jedi!" he exclaimed. "Mission has friends that are Jedi? Mission is alive? When I heard about Taris I assumed the worst! I thought she'd have been killed."
Alaanis cocked her head to one side. "Come on Griff, let's get you back to your sister. Maybe you can clear a few things up for me then..."
Alaanis could've sworn that the sandpeople were rather happy to see their complaining captive leave. Unfortunately, she had gotten stuck with him.
XxXxX
"Mission! You're alive!"
"Griff! You're here!"
As Griff followed Alaanis, Juhani, Carth and HK up the loading ramp of the Ebon Hawk, Mission caught sight of her brother and ran right into his arms. HK immediately left the room muttering something along the lines of avoiding 'disgusting meatbag expressions of affection'.
The two siblings seemed extraordinarily happy to see each other, and despite what Alaanis had heard so far about Griff, he seemed genuinely happy with his younger sister. Mission can bring out the soft spot in anybody, she told herself. Mission seemed just as happy to see her brother for the first time in years.
"I thought you would've been dead when I heard of what happened to Taris…" Griff told his sister as he let go of her.
Mission stopped smiling for a moment and observed Griff. "I have to ask you something Griff. I ran into Leena on Kashyyyk and she said that it was your idea to leave me on Taris when you guys left. Well… I wanted to know if she was right."
Griff scratched his neck nervously and avoided looking at Mission. "Um… well… she offered to have you come along but I thought you were doing so well on Taris…"
"'Well?" Mission exclaimed. "I was not doing well! The local cantina wanted to buy me as another Twi'lek dancing girl and I was an alien on Taris! That's not exactly doing well, Griff. In fact, if Big Z and I hadn't run into each other, we'd probably have both been long gone. And if we hadn't run into Alaanis… well, the situation would've been just as bad. And my own brother couldn't have saved me from almost certain death or slavery?"
"I had my own skin to look after!" Griff muttered.
"You had a sister to care about too, and when you decided to 'take care' of me, that gave you the responsibility of being my brother and looking out for my skin too! I thought you cared about me Griff, but apparently not!"
The blue Twi'lek huffed and walked out of the room, Griff looking nervously at her retreating back.
Alaanis rested her hand on her hip and shook her head as Griff turned towards her. Juhani was looking at the Twi'lek with a bit of disappointment and Carth had his arms folded and his eyebrows raised in surprise. The rest of the crew wasn't in the room.
"You know, maybe Mission will speak to you again despite the fact that you abandoned her, but it's not going to be any time soon," Alaanis told him. Griff didn't seem to want to suffer the wrath of two Jedi and a Republic pilot if he disagreed so he nodded his head and walked off the ship.
"Tell Mission that I'll be working in the Czerka supply shop most likely. Or if not there, then the Czerka representative will know where I am… if she wants to talk to me, tell her that, would you," Griff called as he left the ship.
"I almost feel bad that his sister hates him… almost," Alaanis declared as she sat down on a couch in the common room. Carth sat beside her and Juhani pulled up a chair to sit in.
"What a good example for Mission to live up to," Carth muttered. "At least she doesn't have to worry about dishonoring the family name or something like that. Griff appears to have already done the like by abandoning a kid alien on Taris."
"And being a stupid jackass by complaining to his captors," Alaanis scoffed. "What kind of captive complains to their captors? Honestly… he's one ridiculous liar. I'm surprised though, I expected more from somebody related to Mission."
"He's still my brother," said a quiet voice from the doorway. "Despite what he does wrong."
Alaanis looked up and caught sight of Mission looking rather sad as she ambled into the room and sat down on the couch she and Zaalbar usually possessed. "I mean, he's not a good guy really, but he's still my brother… right? I mean, even though he did leave me on Taris he's still my flesh and blood."
The older jedi in the room sighed lightly. "I guess you're right Mission. I just don't respect him for leaving you behind when everybody here knows how capable you are and how much we need you on this journey." Alaanis smirked. "If it wasn't for you, we would've died back on Taris."
The teenage Twi'lek grinned from across the room. Juhani moved over and sat down next to Mission to comfort her. "Family is something you should always stand by, but you must learn the difference between family and friends. Some people can be both, but sometimes being family doesn't guarantee that you must respect their decisions."
"Griff made some bad choices, but you're right, he's still your brother," Carth added. "You can try and help him, but if he chooses to ignore what you say, you can't change that. I guess you've just got to accept him for the good with the bad."
If there is any good, Alaanis thought to herself as Mission smiled a bit and said a 'thanks' for the comforting words before going off to bed, Juhani trailing after her.
"I wonder why Bastila isn't in here asking for a detailed explanation on what happened in the sand people territory," Alaanis asked aloud.
Carth shrugged. "Maybe she's already asleep. It's late."
Alaanis nodded. "Goodnight then, flyboy," she said, throwing him a wink as she stood up and walked to the starboard dormitory where Juhani and Mission were preparing for bed and Bastila laid in her bed fast asleep, a bit of a sour expression on her sleeping face.
I wonder what she's dreaming about…
XxXxX
Staying on the Ebon Hawk this day hadn't been as bad as the previous day, with Bastila now knowing where Alaanis was this time. Mission and Zaalbar had spent the day roaming around Anchorhead and apparently ended up in the cantina where Mission won quite a few rounds of Pazaak and a couple hundred credits.
Jolee had been in the garage all day, fixing one of the broken lightsabers the dark Jedi had been carrying two days ago. He had told Bastila when she asked that the more lightsabers they carried, the more heavily armed, and therefore, the better prepared they were.
Canderous ended up with his Mandalorian repeater in the common room. As Bastila didn't want to encounter the Mandalorian, she stayed in the engine room all day, meditating. She took a quick trip out during midday to eat at the cantina, hoping she wouldn't run into her mother again.
As Bastila returned to the ship and had to pass through the common room to get back to the engine room, Canderous spoke to her.
"Your father hunted creatures for honor and not credits did he not?"
Bastila stopped in mid-step to look at Canderous. He didn't take his eyes off of his repeater as he fitted it with a new energy cell.
"How did you know about my father?" the Jedi asked him.
The Mandalorian took his eyes off his gun and looked up at Bastila smirking. "Everybody on this ship knows about everything that happens, princess," he told her. "It's a small ship with a handful of people on board."
"Yes, my father hunted and thought he was paid for hunting, he enjoyed hunting as an art as he once told me," Bastila replied, nodding her head warily, not wanting to start another argument with the Mandalorian who seemed to provoke her so easily.
"I think that's honorable," Canderous said simply. "We Mandalorians honor those who can prove themselves in battle against others, including tough creatures, such as zakkegs."
"Father once killed a zakkeg when he went with a hunting party onto Dxun when I was young. My mother and I stayed in the city of Iziz on Onderon while father traveled to that moon. He was awfully proud and he gave mother the zakkeg ear as a gift. She refused it." Bastila wasn't sure why she was telling all of this to Canderous. Perhaps because he seemed truly interested in her father's quests for honor.
Canderous nodded his head lightly. "Each young Mandalorian has to prove themselves by riding a basilisk war droid into battle, freefalling from extreme heights in the midst of a battle. It's an exhilarating experience battling your ride into another battle. A trial of sorts to prove one's worth."
Bastila remained silent as Canderous reminisced upon his time on the basilisk war droid. It was important to him, this Mandalorian way of honor.
"I must ask, Canderous, why are you telling me these things?" Bastila asked curiously as the Mandalorian finished his explanation and rubbed a hand through his grayish hair in irritation.
"Because, princess, despite who you think you are, you are a warrior at heart," he said. Bastila's eyes narrowed just slightly. "Your father seemed to be a man of honor, and you are a worthy fighter in the battlefield. Despite your silly Jedi code, you would make a fine Mandalorian."
This statement was discomforting to Bastila as she walked back to the engine room to try and meditate. She found it hard, trying to concentrate on something with her conversation with Canderous running through her head. The jedi finally made herself go to sleep where she was haunted with dreams of being a Mandalorian, of past arguments with Canderous, and the often recurring dream of her duel with Revan.
XxXxX
Whee! Finished another chapter! XD There should be one more Tatooine chapter. I think just one at least. Perhaps I should just do one more, to keep with the tradition I seem to have made of three chapters a planet since Dantooine. Hm.
I'm sorry if the Canderous and Bastila conversation was a bit weird; it just popped out of nowhere. Seriously, I had no intention of writing it until it had written itself. I don't control my stories! Ah! That's a scary thought! But Trillian said it seemed good so I'll take her word for it…
Anyways, thank you guys so much for the reviews. They brighten up my day as always. Responding now…
Lunatic Pandora1 – Unfortunately I don't end up dragging HK along with me much in the second game. I have too much on my hands trying to jedify Mira, Atton, Bao-Dur and Disciple. Muck them. But when I do have HK along he's always a barrel of laughs. Especially for whomever he's holding his blaster rifle up to this time. XD
Trillian4210 – First everybody wants romance and now everybody wants HK! What a strange change! What next? HK romance? HK loves T3 forever! Droid love! On the kotorfanmedia forums there a mention of C-3P0 and HK getting together. It was very funny. Of course, there was also Atton and Disciple mentioned… heehee…
Resident roach code metallica – Thanks for the review. :) The movies of Harry Potter aren't that great, in fact they turned me away from the books, but yeah the books are really good. Less than a week left until the next book! –squeals-
Greatstar – Hope you liked Mission and Griff's reunion. Not a very happy one eh?
Shadows Run – Ah! You've returned! Again! XD Alaanis is Alaanis, and she's a very calm person. Buying an assassin droid is nothing for her. Handling the assassin droid on the other hand…
Siberian-Tigress – Thanks for the review:)
Okay, so, I responded to the reviews, I posted the chapter, I added a disclaimer and credit to Trillian4210 for beta-ing (thanks again!), what else shall I add? I guess I'll say simply that the next chapter might take a little extra time (or I might write it up REALLY quickly… which I doubt). Like a little over a week. Why you ask? Well, first of all I have eight books to read. Three new Star wars books I bought and then the entire Harry Potter series. And I wanna read those before the next book comes out, so I'll be in a reading frenzy for the next week. And then, second of all, I start my summer job on the 18th and that'll be keeping me rather busy. As well as this vocal course I'm taking at a local college.
So the next chapter might take a little time, but it should be longer than the past two have been (this one's around 14 pages) so it's something to look forward to. XD Then there will be the next story break (one I've had written for a very long time… it was in Chasing Answers back when I had that on this site) and then Manaan, the Leviathan, Korriban, the Unknown World, the Star Forge and then –gasp- It'll be over! Never fear, Destiny II will be here!
Again, I thank you all for the reviews. I mean, usually after two months I stop being so dedicated to a fic, but thinking of all the reviews and readers I've got I perk up and keep on writing because I still love writing this! So thanks guys!
And until next time, make sure to hug your ducks multiples times a day, review, breathe and review! Lol… adios folks!
7-10-05