WPRT Ch.5 Bar (Updated 2021)

Aaron:

*Stare*

"... Uh huh, hi?"

Everyone in the bar stared a second longer before going back to whatever they were doing before. After the starring stopped, I noticed that not everyone here was human. It was almost like Star Trek. This bar had creatures of all kinds, all people. Cat like races, lizardmen, brutish monsters. Anything you could think how other life would look like was in that room. It was like some sort of fantasy rpg. All that was needed was funky music, and then it would be the dream.

Jo and I started to pull out drinks we saved when we were in the desert. Jo pulled out her canteen of water while I pulled out a can of the good stuff from my secret compartment.

"Really? You had that on you this entire time. I would have liked to have known that was on the table for our supplies when we were dying of thirst."

"Well, I wanted to save it for last just in case we ran out."

Jo huffed.

"Well, I can't blame you, Coke is your life source."

"You KNOW IT!"

A few of the people turned our direction at this statement, but turned back not a moment later.

Before I continued, I took a big sip from the can.

"AH, life returns…. Hey Jo, I need to tell you something."

I motioned for her to move in closer so that others couldn't hear. And she did just that.

"Last night, I didn't sleep well. That hasn't happened to me in a long time. And when I did actually sleep it was not deeply. I kept hearing whispers and mumbling."

Jo took immediate interest in what I said when I mentioned lack of sleep.

She then asked "What did they say?"

"I don't know, it was gibberish. None of it made sense. It was a weird dream. I heard, but saw nothing."

I sighed and continued.

"But that's not the weirdest part. When I woke up, I felt amazing, like a million bucks."

"Well an explanation could be that some people get weird bursts of energy from lack of sleep."

But she didn't look sure of herself and added to the mystery.

"I had almost the exact same problem. I had trouble sleeping and it was short bursts."

She paused to think if she should tell me what happened next.

"But when I slept, I saw things, blurred images, like looking through wax paper. But the strangest thing about it was I didn't hear a thing, just... silence. And, when I woke up, I felt great, too, even though you know I'm not a morning person. At all."

Hmmm. That's just as bad as I had it. Not that feeling good is bad, just the dream part.

"I'm sure it's nothing, I just wanted to let you know. Let's forget the whole thing and drink in peace."

"You're right. Cheers."

We drank quietly for a few minutes before I noticed Jo looking depressed a bit.

I groaned

"What's wrong?"

"I want milk."

What?

"Ok? Why don't you ask for some?"

"Yeah, but this is a bar. Do they even sell it?"

Not a moment after she said that, we overheard someone ask for some.

I then looked at her, giving her a face that said her question was answered.

"Ok, I guess they do, but what about Owen? Shouldn't we wait for him?"

"Look, I'm not sure he would care considering we saved him and other people's lives yesterday."

"Yeah, but-"

"Come on now, you're a big girl now. You can do it. Go ask the nice man for some milk."

I couldn't contain my laughter, because she looked like she wanted to kill me.

"Hey now, I'm the older sibling, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. You will bring death and destruction on me."

She rolled her eyes and got up to ask for a glass of milk. I was still laughing on the inside. After she walked away, I tried to come up with how we got to this point.

It doesn't make any sense how we got here. We slept, and we woke up somewhere else, in the middle of a desert that scales an entire world. What are we doing here? Well, if we got put here, the least we could do was explore a bit. I'll let her know when she comes back.

When she returned, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. She was carrying a glass of milk alright, but the milk was blue. BLUE!

I sure hope she didn't pay for a glass of moldy milk. Na, it probably has blue dye in it. Yeah, that actually makes sense.

She sat down staring at the glass.

"It's blue."

"That's a great observation Jo. What else can you tell me?"

"I don't want to know where it came from."

"Come now, you need your milk."

"Just stop.."

With that she took a gulp.

"Well, how is it?"

She paused thinking what to say.

"It's not that bad, just….different. I can tolerate it though."

She decided to take another sip. Acting as if she was an investigator, trying to see if something was added. Then I had an idea, for my amusement of course.

I put a big grin on my face, and said "You know that's alien blood, right?"

Her face changed from thought to fear in an instant.

Mission accomplished.

Or, so I thought. she spat some on my face. When she did, a few others looked in our direction once more, and we paid them no mind.

"You're disgusting!"

I held up my hands in defence.

"Ok, you're right, that was uncalled for. But you gotta admit, that was funny!"

She rolled her eyes at this and went back to her drink.

I think now is a good time to go for a little stroll outside.

I stood up and said, "I'm going out for a bit."

She looked shocked at this, but only asked, "What about Owen?!"

"You'll be here when he gets here and tell him I won't be far. Besides that you're armed, with two weapons mind you . You'll be fine."

She sighed. "Fine. Just go."

With that, I got up and walked out of the bar. I had to admit, this place looked amazing. It was a dump, but amazing. This place seemed to have it all. Food, electronics, slaves-.

Wait. What?

I saw a stand that looked to be a normal auction, but instead of good conditioned furniture or a used car, it was people. They had creatures from a wide variety of races with some sort of collars on their necks, definitely not for decoration. None of them looked happy or in good condition. I mean, this was wrong on so many levels. Then, a freaking robot walked up to a podium and started talking.

"These slaves are people and their families who have failed to pay their debts to Jabba the Hutt. All of which have yet to be chipped. As soon as they have been paid for, we will chip them for you."

As soon as the droid stopped talking, one slave bumped the droid out of the way to say something before he could be pushed back.

"Please, LET US GO! We have Jabba's money, it's at the farm in our safe! We weren't able to pay because I was captured by Sand People! I only got away because some strangers saved us. The Tuskens killed my oldest son, Arik... Please, don't take what's left of my Family!"

Airk's father looked to be on the verge of tears after that last part, but the only response he received was an electric shock around his collar. Then the droid got back up and counteracted the slave's statement.

"Ignore what this slave just said! They had plenty of time to pay Jabba, but failed to do so. And who would believe what you said? Anyone can say that they have been taken by those savages!"

Then the machine turned to Airk's father, who was still on the floor, and said. "And you dare insult the Mighty Jabba's protection for who work day and night for everyone here?"

The droid pressed a button on a remote and it caused a shock not only on him, but everyone with a collar on. Everyone who did yelled in pain, one kid fell to the floor unconscious.

The unchangeable face of the droid turned back to his audience.

"Now, shall we start the bidding?"

This isn't right, but what can I do, they obviously need help. I sure could use some help right now.

Not a moment too soon, I saw something out of the corner of my eye, looked like one of the guards guarding the slaves pulling some kid into an alley. I couldn't let this go, not another kid.

End Chapter

A.N. Thank you, for those who have stuck with our story so far. And we hope to continue this adventure for a long time. Lord willing, we'll see you again.