I don't like the way this turned out, really, but...here it is! Let me know whatcha think!
Obi-Wan was pulled from his meditation by something smacking him in the face.
"Put those on," Kysi ordered.
He looked down to see that she had thrown a bundle of clothing at him. There was a similar bundle in his master's hands.
"Where did you get these?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Borrowed them from a friend." She pulled her own set of clothes out of her bad, then stopped when she realized neither man had moved. "Let's go! We only have five minutes 'til we land, and you can't get off looking like that!"
"Why not?"
"Because as off-world dignitaries, you will be expected to be a guest of the king. I don't have the time to wait for you, especially since you still have to prove I can trust you, and you won't find me again if we split up."
"There are only a handful of populated areas on your planet."
"It's still a big planet." She pulled off her dress and the two men looked away hurriedly to change their own clothes.
There was a chuckle behind them. "You Jedi are so predictable…"
"I'm sorry?" Qui-Gon asked politely.
"I wasn't about to strip in front of you. I have clothes on underneath."
Neither Jedi was sure what to say to that, so Qui-Gon changed the subject. "Where are we headed?"
"Once we disembark, we have a job to do, some errands to run, things to pick up. You know. Pick up some eggs on our way home."
'"Pick up eggs" indeed,' Obi-Wan thought bitterly a half hour later. He was dressed in a formal suit, the kind he had seen the businessmen on this planet wearing on their way to work. The tight collar, cinched with a 'tie', as Kysi had called it, felt like it was choking him compared to his loose Jedi robes.
"What is this place?" he asked, trying to distract himself.
Kysi ran a plasteel card along her bicep, then through the card reader in front of her, and the locked doors sprang open.
"Here's the deal," she said quietly, ignoring his question. "There are some very rich people on this planet. They have more money than they need. What I do is convince them to invest that money in our cause. Some of them even know what that cause is."
"So you lie, and you swindle money from the rich."
She made a face. "'Lie' and 'swindle' are such harsh words…"
Qui-Gon arched an eyebrow. "So you don't lie and swindle."
"No, that's exactly what I do. They're just harsh words, that's all."
Was she always going to catch them off-guard like that?
"Ah, Ms. Grayson!"
"Your Grace, thank you for honoring us with your presence," Kysi said with a contrived accent. She took the hand of a rotund, panting man and graciously allowed him to kiss it before covering it with his free hand. "These are my associates, Mr. Allen and Mr. White."
"My pleasure, my dear, gentlemen. I'm happy to be on the cutting edge of technology! You have such a high-tech laboratory!"
"Well, we are the leading company in security systems."
"Yes, indeed, my dear, you are!" Obi-Wan was distinctly uncomfortable with the way the nobleman was leering at Kysi, but she just smiled coyly and guided them toward the large window overlooking many scientists bowed over their work.
"Our researchers are hard at work developing a new technique, something that has never been tried before, but looks very promising. Unfortunately, government funding being what it is right now, they have no more money to spare for us right now."
"What is this technique, exactly?"
"Now, your Grace, you know I can't say anything!" She winked. He drooled. "I don't know much about it, and even if I did, the confidentiality agreement I signed would prevent me from telling you. However, I can say this." She leaned in conspiratorially. "You will never have to worry about a child stealing a crumb from your table ever again."
The corridor boomed with the large man's laughter.
"All we need to complete the project is some generous funding from interested parties such as yourself."
"Of course, of course! How does this number look?"
He typed something into his datapad and held it out for her to see.
"Well, it's only about a tenth of what the project will cost, but with other generous donations, I'm sure we'll be able to come up with the rest. In fact, the Dukes of Gelbrithshire and Sham Shui Po have both hinted that they would be willing to donate half between the two of them." She looked back to the studious lab techs.
The duke's eyes widened. "Let it not be said that I am not a generous man. I will go in for the other half."
"Just you, Your Grace? How very kind of you!"
He laughed at her boisterous praise. "I do what I can."
"Mr. White, you have the account information for His Grace?"
Obi-Wan nodded and held out his datapad.
The money transfer was a simple matter, and the duke was sent on his way with more grinning and coy glances from Kysi, til the man looked positively giddy.
"Mother, that was foul," she muttered.
"Just how much money did you convince him to give to your…'project'?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Enough." He wasn't satisfied. She pushed open a door with her shoulder, leading them into a utility closet. "Every mouth will be fed this week. And then some."
She hiked up her skirt and stepped into the open duct.
The two Jedi glanced at each other, confused, but followed. Qui-Gon barely fit through the opening, but once he did, he rather suddenly found himself deposited on a soft surface many meters below.
"How much, Kysi?"
The two men reacted in surprise. They had not felt another presence in the Force. Yet there was another woman, leaning against a wall, reaching for the pad Kysi handed toward her. The other woman's eyes widened and she whistled.
"How—"
"I told you to flirt with the old man."
"You didn't!"
"Trust me. I did." The look on Kysi's face was one of pure disgust, and the other woman chuckled as she typed some commands into the pad, then handed it back to Kysi. "You'll get these to Pompeii?"
"You betcha."
"Thanks."
"Mhm. And, um…" The woman glanced back at the two men.
"I sent a message to everyone saying I was bringing two strays."
"Yeah, I know, I got it."
"But?" Kysi prompted.
The woman looked at the Jedi a moment longer, then turned back to Kysi. "Amalia said she needed you to bring home milk and bacon, and to pick up some extra tenderizer."
Kysi grinned lopsidedly. "Don't I always?"
The woman remained solemn. "She also said no sweet rolls this time."
This elicited an eyeroll. "Yeah. Got it. Thanks. See you at Gimokodan."
"I'll be there." The woman disappeared silently.
"Alrighty, boys, let's go grocery shopping."
They did not go grocery shopping at all. In fact, they ended up at a shoe store. Obi-Wan wanted to ask how, exactly, Kysi planned on buying eggs at a shoe store, but a silent Force nudge from Qui-Gon kept him from doing so.
"Got my order in, Sammy?"
"Yes, ma'am. Been waitin' for ya since yesterday."
"Good, good." Kysi checked the contents of the bag she had been handed, then nodded and handed the man cash. "See you next time, Sammy."
"I'll be here."
Kysi handed the pack to Obi-Wan, looped one arm through his and the other through Qui-Gon's, and lead the way out of the small shop and onto the crowded street. Leaning close to his ear, she said, "We already got the eggs, Ben. We needed bacon and milk. Now that we have everything, we can go home."
They stepped rather suddenly into nothingness. Where the alley should have held more people and more shops, there was instead a barren wasteland covered by a thick layer of mist into which the landscape disappeared a short distance in front of them. Kysi dropped their arms and took the pack from Obi-Wan.
"Or, rather, I can go home. You can go on about your business. Though the king might not be too pleased with your impromptu visit. But, it is what it is, I guess. Good luck, gentlemen. You're gonna need it." With that, she turned and walked away.
"Excuse me," Qui-Gon tried.
She kept on walking.
"Kysi!" he demanded.
She stopped rather suddenly and turned to briskly close the distance between them. She drew herself up, and though the top of her head barely reached the older man's chin, she appeared to tower over him. "If you're going to take that tone with me, Jedi, I suggest you have a damn good reason, and something with which to back it up."
A tense silence stretched between the two. There was a clear challenge laid before his Master, and Obi-Wan saw the options flit through Qui-Gon's mind as he debated his best course of action in response.
Just as the older man made his decision and opened his mouth, Kysi swore violently, though quietly, and pushed him back toward the crowded street. "Get out of here, Jedi."
She turned back to her original direction and sprinted away.
Obi-Wan stared open-mouthed after her. For once, his master fared no better, for a short time.
Of course, that never lasted. "Defensive stance, Padawan," Qui-Gon said tersely, activating his lightsaber and moving to cover Obi-Wan's back in one swift move.
There was little that he thought of consciously in battle anymore. Muscle memory and the Force took control in a fight, telling him how to move and where to aim. This time, however, one small thought wiggled its way into his brain: we will never survive this. There were at least twenty armed men surrounding them, and it sounded as if more were on the way. He and his master were hard-pressed to keep up with the hail storm of blaster fire they were already deflecting. Adding more opponents would only mean a sure victory for the opposing side.
An urgent squawk came over the radios attached to their opponents' hips. One man, a commander, Obi-Wan guessed, shouted for about half of the team and all reinforcements to relocate to the new emergency. Oh, good, that only left them…thirteen. Well. They might die from their injuries after they had vanquished their enemies, instead of at the hands of the living enemy. He liked that version of his death only slightly more.
A sudden impulse—was that a Force push?—saw Obi-Wan face down in the dirt, his master landing very nearly on top of him. No matter what it was, he found himself grateful to not be standing as an explosive sailed right through the spot where his head would have been.
The explosion was so quiet, the shout that followed nearly deafened him.
"Oy! Pretty boy!" a voice called.
Obi-Wan looked up to see five men still conscious, looking for the source of the voice.
It was Kysi. "Your mama give you that hair cut? It looks like you have a dead cat on your head."
"It's her!" called out 'pretty boy' to his comrades. Qui-Gon leapt back to his feet and intercepted two of them. Obi-Wan managed to engage another, leaving two for Kysi.
The remaining battle was decisively short, and the two men soon found themselves being hauled off in the direction Kysi had been headed. "Let's go, boys, up in the trees. It's not long before they realize that was a fake distress call," she whispered.
They made quick work of the climb up into trees they hadn't been able to see through the fog, and settled high in the treetops and watching the uniformed men organize a search of the forest floor. When they moved on past the hideout, Kysi threw one leg over the limb she sat on, wincing slightly.
"You're injured," Qui-Gon stated.
"Am not."
"Then why is your leg bleeding?"
She glared. "For the hell of it."
"Are you ever not sarcastic."
"Sure. When I'm sleeping."
Qui-Gon rolled his eyes and moved carefully toward her. "May I?"
She glared for a moment later, before looking away, which Qui-Gon took as permission. He rolled up the leg of her pants to just above the knee, and stared at the wound. "How did you run on this?" There on her calf was a rather large hole, partially cauterized from the heat of the blaster, partially torn open.
She barely spared him a glance. "Practice." It was clear she wasn't going to say anything more, so he simply accepted the med-kit from Obi-Wan and set to work patching the wound.