New Stories (Tatooine)

[Joy Carleec]

Hindsight is 20/20. She hadn't thought this bit out. Maybe she should've asked her Dad for a lift to civilization before 'departing' her old life, if only so it would mean she would exchange this horrible situation for only an arkward one. She'd sigh, but she was currently gasping for breath with each step. No matter. She was at least educated on how to protect herself from the harsh Desert; bringing plenty of water and wrapping her skin with protective rags (though being a Twi'lek this was less vital than say, for a human).

Each footfall caused the sand beneath her step to shift and her foot to sink with no guarantee that she would even benefit from it - an excerise in futility. Or at least Exhausting. Joy was relieved when she finally ascended the mound and stood in view of... Whatever this city was. They all looked the same; like crap. But right now it was the most beautiful thing in the desert, because it meant no more walking in loose sand!

She says.. Still having to break as she descended the dune towards the more level stretch before the high walls of the city. No doubt at this point various observers were mocking her trek while they straddled Swoops and Speeders and Spaceships.

Joy's pace slowed as she rummaged in her pack over one shoulder beneath her cowe for a container of freshing liquid before her form approached the large archways of the city.

Hindsight...

Almost immediately she swept under the nearest shade available and lifted off the cowel of her robe to reveal her contrast skin tone compared with the land she lived in, which featured blander neutural tones such as worn reds, browns and oranges. Meanwhile, she'd already begun taking in her surroundings in detail with those big blue orbs. The city seemed busy, but suprisingly quiet - lacking any such consistant blaster fire of muggings and bar fights that her Father often described on this world, which he cursed so often. Either way, her short rest was over and the girl began to wander deeper inside.

A worn sign welcomed her as she passed it, her smile gently creeping from one cheek to the other.

"Mos Eisley, huh?"

 

[z234]

Mos Eisely. The loud and busy town had an air of criminal activity about it. Everywhere on Tatooine was like that, full of criminals and conmen, a perfect place for a bounty hunter to get work. He was on yet another trip here from Nar Shadda, the Cartel seemed to like him being out there. He had only taken a few missions since he joined, but all of them had been on this big, dirty rock of a planet. Reikan walked through the dirty, baked streets, taking a swig of his water flask and taking a while to have a look at his surroundings. He was headed towards the town entrance, hoping to find someone who needed something doing.

At the entrance to the town stood a Twi'lek woman wrapped in rags, presumably to protect herself from the desert. He looked at her, she was quite short and looked nice. This woman looked like a great place to start looking for bounties, although she didn't look like the agressive type. He walked over to her, greeting her as he did...

 

[Joy Carleec]

As she slowly explored, it was decided that she didn't need the whole rag-robe thing, there was enough shade to keep the sun off her skin often enough that they simply made her feel hotter. Or maybe that was heatstroke talking. She took another swig just to be sure, before putting her flask back into her pack over her left shoulder and finding something to sit on, or something.

Sure enough, she found a table on a raised block of whatever the surrounding house was made of. This was perhaps the only way that she might be considered tall, when standing on something a foot or so off the street level. With one swift motion, the ragged robe was pulled over her head and one arm swung out to lift it clear of her body. Presuming she didn't smack someone with said arm, the other would guide her long headtails through the opening and leave them trailing long lengths down her front for a change of pace. Before placing the brown garment unscrupulously into her brown pack. Her whiter clothes were more breathable and free; which meant she could start to cool down a bit.

Either through a swing of her arm, or through noticing his approach finally, the teenager would find herself in contact with.. Some guy. Her first presumption was that he was trying to get to the building she was standing beside, but this.. Did not seem to be the case. She cleared her throat at the armoured individual to speak clear and loud, so that he may hear her.

"Hi- Uh. Did I do something wrong?"

She smiled sweetly as a preemptive attempt at weaselling out of whatever it was, if that was the case, while one hand rested on the left strap.

 

[z234]

"No, no, you haven't really done anything wrong. This... This is more about what others have done wrong to you. You can probably tell my, uh, profession by my choice of clothing in this heat..." He looked down at her, seeing she was sat down at a table made from a sandy-coloured stone. On second thoughts, she probably wasn't going to have anything for him. It was worth a try at least. He needed a break from the Cartel contracts, they sometimes seemed a little... messy.

Reikan took a short sip of his water canteen, looking around him at a big rock outcropping just outside the city. There was a large skeleton of something out there, maybe a Krayt Dragon. He took yet another sip of the one thing that everyone needed out here in this heat, precious water. He'd been on Tatooine so much in the past month he was almost used to the scorching heat here. It was not the kind of heat that people enjoyed though. It was a life-draining, energy-sapping kind of oppressive heat.

Reikan still wasn't sure if the Twi'lek knew he was a bounty hunter yet. To emphasize that he was, he stood with he left leg closer to her than his right, revealing his blaster in it's holster. He hoped that she had noticed, as he didn't like to say things like that so bluntly in public. "So, what do you say?"

 

[Joy Carleec]

She flinched at the initial volume of his response, before nodding. Waiting to see what he's selling, she continued nodding. The girl had lived on Tatooine practically her whole life and she still wasn't totally used to the heat of the desert sun. After his initial opening statement she shrugged with a shake of her head; hands coming up slightly to greater emphesise the expression.

When he asked what she had to say on it, her attention shifted to observation of his posture; he was brandishing his weapon... Was he trying to intimidate her or something? He didn't seem to be... Hum. Slight suspicion caused one eyebrow to raise as she spoke.

"Well... I've only just got here. So noone has bothered me yet." The girl shrugged with a pleasant enough smile. "You're the first." A joke, of course while she admired his presumibly-effective armour.

 

[z234]

After a short laugh, Reikan said "Well, good for you... I presume you're not really familliar with these kind of things." He leaned in a little closer, taking a seat at the table opposite her. "If ever you, uh... need someone dealt with, contact me. The name's Reikan, I'm usually on Tatooine or Nar Shadda." He gave her a data chip with his details on it, so if she was ever using a communicator she could contact him. Making the Twi'lek realize what he was getting at had been harder than he had originally thought. "So, what bring you to Tatooine... what was your name again?" He inquired, making some idle chat to try to make their encounter less awkward and possible earn a fried, which was always a valuable asset to have on a planet like this.

Reikan's communicator beeped at him, it was a message from one of his fellow bounty hunters, something about a new job on Naboo. He had always liked that place, the elegance of the cities and towns there were a welcome break from the barren frontier of Tatooine. He'd have to be off there soon, as it was also the meeting place for something he was organizing with a few other Hutt bounty hunters and criminals. He turned to face the Twi'lek again after closing his communicator back down, awaiting her name.

 

[Joy Carleec]

Joy raised her brows swiftly in response to his answer, noticing him take a seat opposite. Seemed arkward to do in full armour, but maybe it was designed for that kind of thing. Comfort or something. "Not.. Really. But yeah. Alright. My very own knight on the end of a holovid." Another reasonably bad joke. "I'm Joy." The girl answered and hesitantly took the datachip that was pushed towards her. "I live here- on Tatooine- Not in the City."

As the beep went off, her attention was immediately drawn to where it was coming from. "I guess I'm just looking to find where I'm going to go from here. Can't be a moisture farmer forever." A shrug was offered. "Are you always this in demand then? I guess that can't be helped, if you give your details out to everyone who walks under the arches." She was of course reffering to entering the city.

 

[z234]

"Not always, but I've been a bit more... Busy recently." Reikan said, slightly mumbling the last part. So, her name was Joy, a moisture farmer. It must be hard working on a moisture farm every day. He had worked on one as a teenager for about a year. "Well, some people like living here, but me... I don't really know where I live at the moment, what with being a mandalorian and all." He said. It wasn't really a good time to talk about his history, but this was always the case when it came to mandalore these days. Something else had died recently next to the large krayt dragon. Maybe a tusken raider. A few people walked into the house next to them, talking quietly as they did.

 

[Joy Carleec]

At the suggestion of people liking Tatooine, her hand raised to rock to and fro. "Ehh. My Dad always said that people tolerated living here, either because they got no money to leave or because every other planet kicked you off and Tatooine tolerates you." She chuckled with a smirk. "Or you're a Jawa.. Or Tusken.." She hummed at that consideration. At the mention of a Mandarlorian, she didn't seem to react. Clueless about the subject of the Mandalorian race and their fate.

After a short silence, her footing shifted to allow her legs to reposition and hands set either side of her rump. "So you know this place pretty good?"

 

[z234]

Reikan listened to Joy, noting that she probably didn't know much about his culture's current situation. "Well, I've been to Mos Eisely quite a lot recently, what with just joining the uh- the business. So yeah, you could say I'm getting a feel for the place." Reikan said, in such a way that suggested he still didn't like being here. He didn't like being here, but it was just the way things seemed to be happening at the moment. The Hutt Cartel were keeping a closer eye on their old stomping grounds recently, perhaps brought back by a fondness of the scorching heat and barren wastelands. Reikan didn't see how anyone could want to come back here, but the Hutts liked to do things differently.

He saw that she was shifting around in her seat a bit to a more relaxed position. He thought that she sounded like she was looking for some work, so he said "Well, I could help you find some work if you need some. I know some people with some contacts." He also moved in his seat again, opting for a casual position similar to Joy's. His communicator beeped again, shortly being followed by an audio message that read out loud that his pay had come in from his most recent Hutt Cartel job. Dammit. He had meant to change that. The damn machine was always going off when he least expected it to. "Uh, yeah. Just ignore that, it must be playing up again." Reikan said, knowing fully well that it was working fine.

 

[Joy Carleec]

She nodded as she listened to Reikan explain his situation. Her brows raised as she let one drop at his evasion. "Uh-huh." She smirked and shook her head. "Business." The Twi'lek quoted with use of her fingers and tone.

At the idea that she might be able to get some work, the girl practically hopped out of her seat. "Oh that would be awesome. Though. I'm no armoured up fighter. I'd be okay with a courier... Thing. Or maybe fixing some basic machinery.." Her hands clapped together loudly as she rocked back with a cackle at the thought of immediately getting a job upon merely entering the city!

Her happiness ended rapidly as she wagged her finger at him suspiciously. "Nothing suspicious. Right?" Queue a well-timed beeper voiceover. Yeah. Suspicious.

 

[Hishamori]

Hiru had to wonder why in the far stars of the galaxy she was still on Tatooine, maybe it's because she was bored, or something. Then again it also could because she was wondering if she might want to get something before leaving, or it may have to be because of the fact she liked being nice to people.. Right... kinda hard to be that way on Tatooine. She thought with some bitterness, she was still wandering around the cantina looking for a place to sit, and she looked towards one table that only had two people at it, one was obviously to hiru a mando and the other was a Twi'lek, she went over to them and sat down "Sorry if I'm intruding." Hiru said in polite and sorry tone, and simply took a sip of her drink, she was carrying around her sniper rifle again, It's a good habit, and the fact I barely feel the weight anymore means, that it's a good endurance work out, funny enough Hiru thought smiling into the cup and let out a small giggle of amusement.

 

[z234]

"Well, if you're so keen, I could take you to Nar Shadda or Nal Hutta and get you a job now. A freelance type thing, you wouldn't have to sign any forms or anything." Reikan said, wondering if she had fully realized that what she was going to sign up for was mainly illegal. "No fighting or anything, just some good clean courier work or something." He added. Taking more time to look at the young Twi'lek woman, Reikan noticed that her Lekku were quite large for someone of what, 22 or 23? He would like to ask about it, but on second thoughts he assumed it would be quite rude to tell a Twi'lek that she had abnormally large Lekku. Joy had jumped at the chance for a job, so Reikan took this as a bit more than a subtle hint that she would happily be rid of this planet.

A small Trooshti flew in Reikan's face shortly before he batted it away with his gloved hands. Joy sat in her seat, taking a brief moment to choose her answer. The young woman must have been about his age, although he towered about a foot and a half above her. Her Lekku had dark blue bands in the middles of them, presumably tattooed on like her eyebrows, which he had only just noticed were tattoed when she had raised them after his communicator had played the recording. Well, at least he had some more credits in the bank...

 

[Joy Carleec]

Joy cupped her brow with her palm, shielding her eyes from the sun for a moment as she looked out into the street and the passerbys, since the table was straddling the closest edge of the Cantina to the outside. Quite suddenly, a shadow blocked the light and allowed her eyes to adjust, before it sat down and the sun glared back into her face, causing a flinch and closure of her eyes. "Uh- No. It's fine." She answered to the female voice, only able to see it was a human after the dazzle had worn off. The long-barrel rifle was something to look at, before her attention quickly turned back to the armoured male so she could reply to him.

"I wouldn't say I'm completely keen on the idea of being hurried away to a foriegn planet with a stranger." The girl intelligently pointed out - Twi'leks were afterall sought after as slaves. And with the size of her tails, it could be presumed she had a high status in her prior life. Which was untrue. But who would believe that. The giggle from Hiru caused her to look her way again, smiling gently as she leant forward onto the table to prop up her head with one hand and elbow against the surface. "Maybe when I've had a look about the place, I could take you up on that offer. Or when I'm ready to leave Tatooine, I guess..." The idea of leaving home - really leaving it, was slightly unnerving.

While the bug bothered Reikan, she then focused on the quiet Hiru. "Neat rifle." She began; trying to strike a point of interest. "Do you do hunting or something? This would leave her lekku flowly nicely over her back, giving the male plenty of time to observe them.

 

[Hishamori]

Hiru shrugged a bit looking at the Twi'lek, "It's actually a sniper rifle, but I can hunt with her." Hiru answered honestly, taking another drink "So um, sorry but I slightly overheard your converstation. Um, you planning on simply looking for work? or exploring?" Hiru asked curiously, considering the type of family she came from she had plenty of contacts.

 

[Outlander]

"You two really shouldn't bring weapons around a kid. At least, not an aruetii." Tala said. The armor glared a little, and she had to cover her own eyes. Without her helmet, she had trouble seeing. She stood back, leaning on the cantina wall.

 

[z234]

After briefly taking a look at the two newcomers, Reikan looked up at the Mandalorian woman and said "She's practically a woman, I think she can defend herself. taking another, harder look at the two women, one a Mandalorian woman and the other a seemingly normal but tall woman, he added "Haven't I seen you two before? You know, from the bar a while ago." He knew who they were, but didn't really want to say what had happened there in front of Joy. The woman and Joy were talking, but the Mandalorian was listening to him, leaning against the outside wall of the cantina their table was attached to.

Reikan was feeling a little outnumbered, what with it being three women and one man in this conversation. The insect was flying over his head again, so he clapped quietly above his head and squashed the Trooshti above his head, wiping it onto the floor soon after. It was a good thing he was wearing his combat gloves, or it might have stung him. Looking at the woman who was sat down's rifle, he saw the expert craftsmanship that had gone into the firearm, obviously she was very attached to it by the way she referred to it as her or she.

 

[Hishamori]

Hiru turned head towards the mando and nodded her head, and then looked towards the female one "Says the woman who's decked out in full combat armor." Hiru said a bit in a sarcastic tone, and pointing with her eyes towards the weapons the woman had, before going back to looking at Joy.

 

[Outlander]

"Do as I say, not as I do." She said shrugging. She was very aware of her armor, but it made her feel more comfortable. "And, yes. I believe you broke up my fight."

 

[Joy Carleec]

Joy nodded rapidly at the pointed response to her observation of it being a rifle. She was half right. What the hell was the difference between a 'Rifle' and a 'Sniper Rifle' anyway? A scope? She inwardly scoffed at the thought, using an outward breath to do so audiably... Seemingly to nothing. Occasionally the Twi'lek would get a short glazed-over look when she got lost in thought for a few moments, then snap out of it with a adjustment of her visual focus.

"Well. I need more credits before I should leave, if only so it means I always have a return ticket at least." She responds to Hiru, making her answer a very round-about yes. It was about this point that the stranger against the wall spoke up, causing Joy to sit upright and place her spread fingers over her chest with a proud posture. "I'm not a kid." She informed almost with an exaggeratedly posh accent, trying to sound more mature or something. "Besides. I have.. My own." She wiggled her finger at the Sniper Rifle. But obviously nothing that big. She didn't really want to reveal her weapon, incase it's taken as an oppertunity to rid her of it. A girls' gotta have her secrets.

A soft nod placed her in agreement with Raikan, as he pointed out that she was nearly an adult. "Besides, if someone mugged me or something. They're not gonna care if I'm a ki--uh, teenager." Almost slipped up there. There was a short pause, before she felt like she needed to reinforce the point. "Like- If there was a group of Tusken Raiders hitting a family farm... They won't care how old the inhabitants are. But they all might have to fight back with their blasters." Towards the end of that sentence, her eyes begun to look between the adults for their reactions and her confidence began to drop off, which made her words longer as she finished.

She was right, though. Right?

Wait... Fight?

"Huh? Like a barfight?" She seemed to 'wake up' a little at that image of a bunch of Gamorreans slugging it out in a dingey place like this.