Chapter 5

Later that night Aries sat alone in one of the darker corners of yet another cantina. This one, Club 88, had once had dreams beyond it's owner's means. When it had opened it had been several times the size of what it was now. The owner had tried to make it the hottest club on a planet overs-saturated with them.

The only problem was that he tried to go around the local gangsters and bought his own security team, one that was supposedly top-notch. About a month later, five out of seven members of that team were all dead, all through apparently random accidents, and the owner had had to spend a lot of credits on a new and overly expensive spinal cord, from having mysteriously fallen down the stairs that led up to his second floor.

The owner had had to sell most of space to the Czerka Corporation, with only enough left for a small dive, barely bigger than the Scoundrel's Den.

Aries didn't often come here, but after the scene he'd caused the previous night, thought it would best to avoid the Den for at least a month or two. The owner had looked even more surly than usual when Aries had ordered a few drinks. There was a shadow of a smile on his face after he'd handed them over though that had given Aries an uneasy feeling.

He'd only intended to have a few drinks, in fact the two drinks he'd ordered, and stop there. But before he knew it he'd gotten up twice and was presently on his sixth.

The day had started off well, and even though he felt somewhat good about helping the kid out, he still wondered what it was about himself that brought trouble in on a regular basis.

Aries had given the beaten boy enough credits for a ride to an emergency medical unit and back to whatever home he had, and for at least several meals on top of that. He had long known that currency didn't mean to him what it did to everyone else. He had spent so long not having to worry about things like it, since the Order had always covered the costs of whatever trip he was on, or arranged a ship for him to board or sometimes a smaller one to pilot.

He sighed and shook his head to try and clear it, leaning back and running his hands through his hair, ruffling it up unconsciously before sinking down onto the table, his arms folded and head buried in them for a few minutes, hoping he could shut everything out, this cut-throat world, the whole galaxy, for just a moment.

The galaxy seemed to have other plans for him though.

After a few moments he looked up. He wasn't sure why, but something felt off. Alcohol could distort the senses or enhance them to an unbearable proportions, which is why Jedi normally refrained from its use.

Right now he felt detached from them, but that was an illusion. Still, what he had felt was so faint that perhaps it had been his imagination.

He ruffled his hair again, and as he did so, was treated to a very pleasing sight. A woman, several years younger than him, probably in her early twenties, had just walked in.

In a more sober state he might have wondered why such a pretty girl would walk into a dive like Club 88, but inconvenient facts like that seemed very far away at the moment. She had copper-red hair, with freckles covering her face lightly, and wore her up, and though she was more on the shorter side, she had a very athletic frame that Aries found himself staring at probably longer than he should have.

It didn't help that she was wearing a light black top that ended above her midriff, a black skirt that went down to above her ankles as well as black heels. She also wore a golden bracelet that snaked around her arm a few times, as well as a singe gold ring on the opposite side. Aries had an eye for detail, you see.

All in all the outfit had a very sensual appeal to it and though he knew it was probably rude, he still couldn't look away. Then again things like rude and manners weren't high on his alcohol soaked mind at the moment.

There were also various other signs that someone who had been trying to hide for so long should have noticed, but maybe deep down Aries was tired of that, but had he noticed those signs, in a presumably less intoxicated state, he might not have walked over to the girl with red hair that night.

She had watched him walk over, and there was a slight smile on her face when she looked at him, then back towards the bartender to order her drink.

After the drink had been brought over, and she'd had to endure a long and not so subtle look from the owner, she made to reach inside her purse to get the credits to pay for the drink, but Aries already had his own credits, quietly thanking the galaxy that he still had the dexterity to do so in a somewhat smooth manner, though he was also still surprised he'd managed to walk over without stumbling.

She smiled at him, and said, "thanks. Not sure I expected anything close to chivalry in a place like this."

Aries smiled and chuckled a bit, "yeah it does have a certain unfriendly vibe to it, I have no idea why, really," he said, rolling his eyes before turning back to the owner, who was still staring at the woman. "Need anything," he said, "I have had a decent amount to drink tonight but I'm pretty sure I'm all paid up so far."

"Yeah your tab is settled, would have let you know otherwise," the owner said before turning away.

Aries' eyebrows rose slightly as he looked over at the woman, who giggled a bit at the exchange. "So would it be too rude for me to ask your name," he said.

The woman took a sip from her drink, her face scowling a bit and eyes watering a little at the strength of the drink she'd chosen. "Not at all," she stammered a bit, "I'm Sariss."

"Pleasure to meet you Sariss," Aries said and after relaying his name said, "if you want you're more than welcome to join me at my table. It's at least moderately clean."

After a brief hesitation she agreed, "as long as I'm not imposing," she said.

"Not at all," Aries said with a smile.

They sat down and she took another sip of her drink, her eyes watering less, "the only reason I ask is that this seems like a place where people like to be left alone."

"Normally you'd be right, but there's been a bit too much of that lately," Aries said. "Had a bit too much of this planet to be honest."

"It definitely has a distinct quality to it," Sariss said.

"You mean odour?" Aries smiled.

Sariss giggled a bit, "kind of. Is the whole planet a city?"

"Yep, one big giant industrial jungle," Aries said.

"Yeah I guess it would be a bit unrealistic to expect places like the Gardens on a planet like this," Sariss said.

"Yeah there's nothing like that, maybe a few small and cheap imitations, but nothing matching the beauty or extravagance of the Gardens, no giant waterfall either," he said.

"It is quite the sight," Sariss said, her finger with the ring tapping against the table lightly, "not one you ever really forget."

"Never, actually," Aries said, and there was no mistaking the longing in his voice.

"How long has it been?" Sariss asked.

"Since I've been to Coruscant?" Aries said, "several years at this point. To be honest it feels like another lifetime, like who I was back then is completely foreign, just another stranger."

Sariss was still lightly tapping her finger, though now even she'd forgot about it as she listened to Aries, who had just noticed her tapping. "Nervous habit?" he asked.

"Oh I just do it sometimes, can't help it," she said, but the words spilled out faster than she had intended, and finally Aries grew suspicious.

"Right," he said.

His mind had finally awoken from the drunken and hormonal stupor it had been in, but it was too late. He finally noticed that slowly the cantina had started to fill up with people wearing heavy cloaks. As he looked at them, they stood up and moved across the room to stand near his table, blocking all the exits, and allowing only a small space, one in which Anslinger walked through. He'd pulled his hood back as he looked down on his former student.

"Well...shit," Aries said.

"It's taken me quite some time to find you," Anslinger said.

"Well I was trying to hide, so yeah," Aries said. He then looked over at Sariss, whose eyes had hardened somewhat, but Aries felt that he still detected a bit of remorse, and also, when he looked at her, she quickly looked away. He held his gaze though, ignoring Anslinger for the moment, and waited until Sariss finally looked back at him.

"This situation right here," he said, "is the very definition of blue balls."