Eris: Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things and get a few more chapters out before November.
Atton: She's doing NaNoWriMo again this year. Hoefully it ends better than last year.
Eris: Hey! School was killer...
Atton: And now you're in college. Not much easier, doll!
Eris: Whatever. Just, enjoy the chapter and thanks to those who are sticking with me. Also, I'm trying to get Twi'lek politics correct, but I'm not perfect and I don't fully understand how they work... That's why this is fanfiction! I will be taking creative liberties.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Star Wars franchise, though I do own a copy of both the first and second KOTOR game. Two copies of the first, if we're going to get specific. Don't judge me!
Chapter 9
Aishlinn and Tobias had sat in relative silence for the majority of the trip. Aishlinn was extremely grateful; there was only so much of the scoundrel she could handle in one sitting. Though, the silence was also beginning to take its toll on her. She wasn't much for sitting and not talking. Ash could barely sit still for long periods of time unless she was driving her own ship.
"So, what have you been up to for the past few months?" Aishlinn asked him. "I haven't seen you around for a while."
Tobias shrugged. "I've been here and there, picking up odd jobs every now and then. My last trip, I got stranded in Hutt space transporting some swoop bikes. This rival gang sent pirates after me and I had to hide on the back of an asteroid to avoid detection." He answered without thinking, a grin on his lips, but then it hit him. "Are you actually being nice to me for once?"
"I'm capable of kindness, though with you it seems to always be a long shot."
Tobias nodded, a smirk playing on his lips. Aishlinn could feel her own grin curling at the sides of her mouth.
"What about you?" he asked her. Aishlinn shrugged.
"The usual. Smuggling spices in and out for the highest payers and staying clear of the authorities. It's not much of a life, but I wouldn't trade it for anything."
"I know the feeling. Something about being in space with the hum of my girl as background music is really comforting."
Aishlinn nodded. "Though my ship's still back on Nar Shaddaa. I would love to go back and rescue her, but knowing the looters that hang around the docking bay we landed on, she'll be nothing but a pile of scrap metal if I try to go back to her."
Tobias sympathized with the other pilot. He knew what it was like to love a ship. If he ever lost his…
"Hey, maybe I can help you with your ship problem, gorgeous."
Aishlinn bristled at the nickname, but the prospect of getting a new ship was too good of an opportunity to pass up. "How?"
"I know a guy back on the Little Slugland who might be able to help. He can find your ship if she survived, and if she didn't he can hook you up with a relatively nice one for a decent price." He explained. Ash nodded slowly.
"That's actually pretty helpful. So I guess you're not all flirtatious remarks and swagger, huh?"
Tobias smirked at her. "You've barely scratched the surface, babe."
Ash felt her own smile tug her lips up and forgot to feel irritation at the nickname Tobias had taken to using for her. He was a pervert, yes, but maybe he wasn't all that bad. Aishlinn stood and stretched her aching limbs (caused by sitting for so long in the co-pilot's seat) before turning to leave the cockpit.
"I'm going to go check on our other companions. Think you can hold down the fort while I'm gone?" Ash teased him. Tobias chuckled.
"Anything for a piece of hot ass like yours."
Aishlinn stopped in her tracks. She felt the familiar anger and frustration for the pilot come flooding back. She glared at him and Tobias instantly realized that he had screwed up. The tentative friendliness they had earlier vanished as Ash stepped out of the cockpit. Tobias gritted his teeth and shook his head, frustrated with himself. For the first time, he and Ash were actually getting along. Forget it now…
Ash managed to keep her anger in check as she stormed from the other pilot's presence. She didn't want to blow up and accidentally-on-purpose blast his fraking head off. For once, she was actually able to have a civil conversation with the man, but he had to go and being a fraking hutt-spawn once more. He always seemed to put her in a terrible mood, no matter the circumstances.
As Ash took a seat in the main hull, an extremely jumpy Tusken Princess emerged from the port dorms. David looked up from cleaning his blade as she passed him. She took a seat and stared at her clasped hands that were resting in her lap. Her leg was bouncing rapidly and her breathing was erratic. Ash guessed her heart was beating extremely fast as well. David raised an eyebrow and looked at Ash for an answer about Sol's attitude. She shook her head. She had no clue.
Ash slid down the bench so she could sit beside the nervous princess. She stretched her arms out so one of them rested on the back of the seat behind Sol. Sol flinched. Ash gave her a questioning glance.
"Are you okay, Kid?"
Sol nodded sharply. It looked to Ash like her head might snap off her fragile neck.
"Hey, if something's wrong, you can tell me, alright?"
Sol didn't look at the smuggler. She glanced around the hull, trying to find something to focus on. David was still cleaning his blade, his eyes on the weapon but very much listening to the conversation at hand. Tegrit was lazily reclining on the small table, his half-open eyes trained on her. TI-29 was plugged in to the side of the ship, probably recharging.
Aishlinn noticed her distracted state and decide to back off with a sigh. Sol would come to her if she needed her; that was the best she could do.
"Hey, David, want to play a hand of Pazaak?" Ash called to the Echani warrior. David looked up from the obviously well polished weapon. He nodded with a smile.
"I would be honored to."
Ash snorted at his rather formal tone, but pulled out a deck of cards anyway. She cut it, shuffled, and handed David one of her many hands she kept stored in the pockets of her jacket. They were halfway through their second game (Aishlinn had won the first game, obviously) when Jedi Knight Colton emerged from the port dorms. He looked almost as jittery as Sol did. Ash watched with bridled fascination as Colton took one look at Sol and turned to leave the hull like there was a pair of kath hounds at his heels.
Ash slammed her hand down.
"Okay, that's it, something is going on and I want you to tell me. Right. Now." She ordered, standing up to tower over the petite Tusken Princess. Sol curled into herself and flinched at the female pilot's accusing stare.
"It is nothing."
"Shavit. Now tell me what the force is going on or I will beat it out of you."
Sol flinched again as Ash got up in her face.
"W-we had a, a argument. It ended bad." Sol stammered. Ash's eyes narrowed, but she took her answer. She stood up straight and turned to follow where the Jedi had disappeared.
"I'm going to go tell him to apologize." She said.
"No!" Sol shouted. Aishlinn stopped and looked at her. "I was the one who was at fault. I need to apologize first."
Ash didn't say anything; she simply stared at the Tusken Princess without saying a word. She could feel that Sol wasn't telling her the whole truth, but it was enough for now.
"He ever hurts you, you come to me, got it?"
Sol nodded. "He won't hurt me, but yes."
Ash wasn't so convinced.
—
Colton jumped away from her, shock evident in his blue eyes. Sol's face was red and her breathing was ragged as she stared up at him. Colton began to pace, running his hands through his blond hair.
"We shouldn't have done that."
"Why not?"
"I am a Jedi." He said, as if that explained everything. At Sol's blank stare, he sighed before continuing. "Jedi cannot form romantic attachments. It's against the code. I'm putting everyone at risk."
"It was a kiss."
"Does that mean nothing to you?" Colton shouted, anger in his voice. "Where I come from, most kisses aren't so innocent."
"I've seen Ash kiss you before." Sol countered, feeling her heart begin to hurt. Colton shook his head.
"That was on the cheek. That was nothing."
"Then this is nothing." Sol said. Colton looked at her. She tried to hide the hurt she was feeling and the tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "It was a thank you, like Ash gives you, nothing more."
"It meant nothing. We are still comrades and that is all we will ever be." Colton continued. He took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then let it out. "You should leave first. We don't want to cast suspicion."
"It was no big anything. No shame."
"I do not want people to think anything of me that I do not want them to think. I cannot let them think I am being tempted by the darkside."
His words were like a slap. Sol stood and slowly made her way to the door.
"I guess I am nothing but someone to lead you down a path to darkness. We should stop working together. I can learn Basic on my own."
"Sol—" Colton tried to amend what he had said, but she was already gone from the dorm. He took a seat on one of the beds and put his head in his hands.
"There is no emotion, there is only peace…"
He began reciting the Jedi code like a mantra to keep himself in check.
"I'm sorry, Sol…"
—
"Yo, can I get myself a co-pilot? We'll be landing soon." Tobias called over the loudspeaker. Ash pointedly ignored the request, continuing with her game of Pazaak with David, so Tegrit (with of roll of his eyes) went to cockpit to save his best friend from the duty. Ash gave the Kushiban a grateful smile. He shook his head, but accepted her gratitude.
When he entered the cockpit and took his seat, Tobias gave him a strange look.
"Where's Aishlinn?"
"I will be your co-pilot for the decent to Ryloth."
"That didn't answer my question."
Tegrit gave him a pointed glare. "Probably because you have offended her once again, as usual."
Back in the hull, Ash was busy taking credits from the Echani Warrior.
"You are quite good at this game." He told her. "I'm beginning to think you might be cheating."
Aishlinn let out a rather unlady-like snort, shoving the new credits in the pocket of her jacket. David figured her pants were too tight to hold anything. She grinned widely at him.
"I'm just lucky I guess."
"Well, I'm nearly out of credits, so I'm going to have to call this quits." He told the smuggler. Ash nodded, patting the pocket where his lost credits rested. He sighed, but the woman's smile was contagious.
"Very well. Sol, you want to learn how to play Pazaak?"
Sol looked at her in surprise. "But, I have no money."
"We'll play for kicks." Ash said, motioning for the princess to sit across from her. David moved to sit next to Ash so Sol could sit where he had been earlier. Sol stared at Aishlinn in confusion.
"Kicks?"
"Just for fun." She clarified. "No stakes, no prices, just to have fun."
Sol nodded and allowed the pilot to teach her the interesting card game. It seemed complicated at first, but Aishlinn was kind enough to add and subtract things for her as well as tell her what card to lie that would help her the best. The played several rounds, Aishlinn winning all but three. She gave the Tusken Princess a proud smile.
"You catch on quickly. I'm extremely proud of you."
Sol grinned back, all thoughts of her earlier disagreement with Colton forgotten.
The ship came to rest with a rather rocky jolt, sending most of its inhabitants out of their seats. Sol hit her head and Ash reopened her wounded leg from the horned kath hound attack. Blood was seeping through her pants and she swore silently.
"Tobias! Do you have any women's clothing?" She shouted.
"Starboard dorms, in the closet to the right!" he shouted back. "And sorry about the rocky landing everyone; Ryloth isn't exactly the easiest planet to land on."
Once everyone got situated, the exited the Scarlet Eagle onto the rocky, dry terrain of Ryloth. Two Twi'lek warriors were stationed outside of a large cave nearby and bowed when the saw Colton.
"Welcome Jedi. How may we be of service?"
"We request an audience with one of your officials." Colton explained. The warriors nodded and one of them motioned for the group to follow. Sol stayed close to Ash while Tegrit lay across her shoulders. Tobias and David were following the girls while Colton, closely followed by TI-29, took the lead behind their guide.
Torches dimly lit the tunnels and Sol was feeling nervous being underground. Starships were one thing; but after growing up in the deserts of Tatooine, being underground made her uncomfortable. Ash noticed her discomfort and gave her upper arm a gentle squeeze. Sol looked at her.
"Hey, it'll be alright. You've got all of us to protect you."
Sol nodded.
"Tee-eye, how many of the Ryloth council are made up of white Twi'leks?" Colton asked the protocol droid.
"Due to Galactic census records, three members of the council have white pigmentation, Master."
"How many have children?"
"Sienn'aris has one child, Koshal'enura also has one child, and Adon'arven has three children."
"Which of the three officials have a daughters?"
"Koshal'enura has a daughter, age 18, and Adon'arven has two daughters, age 20 and age 16."
Colton thought for a moment. "Do all three of those girls have white pigmentation?"
"The daughter of Koshal'enura is primary white pigmented and the daughters of Adon'arven are primarily white with red lekku, Master."
"I think the official we are looking for is Koshal'enura then. He seems to match the description." Colton told their guide. "I have an urgent matter to discuss with him. It will determine his safety as well as the safety of your tribe." The Twi'lek warrior nodded and led them down a different tunnel. The group walked in relative silence until they reached the large council room.
"Wait here." The warrior told the group. Colton nodded and they all stayed where they were. The warrior approached the council of five and bowed before them. Colton noticed the three white colored Twi'lek and the other two members, one of which was blue and the other green.
"Koshal'enura, there is a Jedi here who wishes to speak to you about a matter he says in urgent." The warrior said. The Twi'lek who nodded and dismissed himself from the council room was very familiar to Sol. He was the one from her vision.
Koshal'enura nodded to the group and Colton bowed to him.
"I hear you wish to speak with me. Come with me to my office so we may have some privacy to discuss these urgent matters." He told Colton. He looked at the rest of the group. "Do all of you need to be present?"
"Would you wish we not all be present?" Colton asked him. Koshal'enura shook his head.
"It means no difference to me. Please follow."
The Twi'lek official led the group into a relatively small room. There was a desk and several chairs. Koshal'enura took a seat behind the desk while Colton, Sol, and Aishlinn sat in the available chairs. David and Tobias stood along with TI-29.
"Now, what matters require a Jedi to come visit our planet?"
"This woman here," Colton motioned to Sol, "has the ability to see into the future. She has foreseen you being threatened by a Sith assassin to break away from the Republic alliance and in order to motivate you, he kills your daughter in front of you. We have come to stop this from happening." He explained. Koshal'enura was very quiet for a long moment. He looked straight into Colton's eyes.
"Do you swear this is true?" he asked. Colton held his gaze and nodded.
"I swear on my life that this is true. We wish to save your daughter's life and keep your planet out of the Sith's clutches."
Koshal'enura nodded slowly. "I thank you for—"
The door opened and in walked a young Twi'lek female, blue rings on her lekku. She smiled at Koshal'enura. "Father I—" she stopped speaking once she realized there were other people there. "I apologize, I—" her eyes widened when then landed on Aishlinn. "Ash?" she said in basic, surprise evident in her voice.
Ash looked equally as stunned. "Cassoal?"
"Cassoal?" Tobias echoed incredulously from where he had been leaning against the wall.
"Tobias?"
"You know these people, Cassoal'enura?" Koshal'enura asked his daughter. She nodded slowly.
"Tobias is the one who kept me from having to deal with any bad or grabby customers while Ash in the one who saved me from becoming a Hutt slave. She's the one who took me back here, father." She explained. She looked between Tobias and Ash, tears brimming in her eyes. "I never thought I would see either of you again."
Ash shook her head. "Me neither, kid. Me neither."