Rumble in The Swamphouse

[Syan Forossa]

The few streets of the small village on the warm and humid jungle planet named Jakku were quiet, the village seemed almost desolate to outsiders, which wasn't that strange considering the weather. Located in the middle of one of Jakku it's most swampy areas, the village relied on trading, for which they used canoes and small boats. It was also the only way to reach the village, making it a popular hideout for many criminals, smugglers and slavers. What made the village even harder to reach, was the heavy rainfall. The kind of rainfall which currently sounded like a bombardment on the roof of it's singular inn: The Swamphouse.

Syan Forossa sat in the corner of The Swamphouse it's dining room, or whatever it was supposed to be. The misshaped wooden tables and squeaky chairs made it feel more like the slums where he grew up, than the community dining room of an inn. The guests weren't exactly contributing either, most of them were men with more scars than he could count. Syan wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for the unpredictable weather. It was sunny with not a cloud in the sky before he arrived. But the moment he set foot on the wooden planks which formed the main street of the village, it started raining so badly that some of the canoes sunk.

He took another sip from his correlian rum. His clothes were damp and he was quite irritated. He hated casinos, bars and taverns. They reminded him of his father, a man who had not been a positive influence in his life. Spotting the sour expression on Syan's face, one of the guests approached him. "You'll get used to the rain," the man said with a grin. When he realized that Syan wasn't going to answer, he decided to change the subject. "What brought you to our little town, trying to hide or something?" Syan knew that he had to respond this time. A crowded inn full of criminals wasn't a place where he wanted to attract attention. So the cathar Jedi knight responded with the most logical reason he could think of. "Debts.." he mumbled.

@Trinidhak

 

[Oria Solstice]

The wooden door to the Inn flew open as Oria kicked it open from the outside. She basically fell in and slammed the door behind her before leaning up against it. She stood still taking a few deep breaths as the room seemed quiet down and stare at her. Quickly she tore off the heavily soaked blindfold and starting wringing it out. "What? Never seen a blind woman try to find her way out of a storm?" she said to the room making an obvious show of her grayed over eyes. "I didn't notice any of you out there willing to help me find my way out of the rain." With that most people went about their own business again feeling awkward about Oria's claims of needing help even though in truth she didnt.

Peeling of her soaked cloak she made her way through by feeling around the tables. She didn't need to actually feel her way around but if she was going to make a show of being physically blind just a second ago she needed to at least keep it up. Slowly she made her way into a back corner and set herself down at an empty table. Only then did she start to feel how completely soaked and uncomfortable she was. She didn't mind rain normally but completely downpours, and in a jungle no less, really irritated her. Oria just hoped the storm would end soon so she could finally get off of this planet before her previous employers could find her. "Can I please get some cheap ale over here?"

 

[Syan Forossa]

Syan kept his eyes focused on the blind woman who just entered the Inn. Something wasn't right. She was breathing heavily, which most likely meant physical exhaustion. But she was blind, and blind people weren't exactly known for their astounding physical abilities. Syan turned to the guest who previously tried to start a conversation with him. "Excuse me, I know her and I haven't seen her in a while. Gotta say hello." With that lie and a friendly nod, Syan gracefully moved to Oria's table.

He arrived at the exact moment she received the ale. "Put that one on my tab please." He said to the waitress. The Twi'lek woman would've likely not worked her, if she had other options, he guessed. The knight turned back to the blind woman. Everything felt off about her presence in this room. Syan sighed before he started talking. "Alright, I have no idea who you are or why you are here, but I don't believe you're to play Sabacc, like them." He subtly pointed at the thugs in the room. Who seemed to rather enjoy their game of Sabacc. Syan sat with his back to the thugs, but thanks to his father, he could recognize a game of Sabacc with his eyes closed from a mile away. "My day is not going well, I'm soaking wet and I hate inns, now don't tell me something violent is going to happen." He didn't trust this woman, but a direct approach seemed to be the best option for now. "Depending on the answer, I'll pay another drink for you." His attitude was more friendly this time. His sister always wanted him to be kind to strangers after all.

 

[Oria Solstice]

Oria took the ale from the Twi'lek woman with a flirtatious thank you and a wink aimed in the general direction of the woman. Then a stranger sat down at her table and put her drink on his own tab. She looked him over and studied him through the Force. He was humanoid, Male and covered in what seems to be fur. A Catharian maybe? Either way she let him continue speaking since he did just technically buy her a drink.

"Wait wait wait, before I answer your question did I just get the feeling that you pointed to show me a group of men. Do you understand what being blind means?" she said cocking her head to the side in a questioning manner. "It means I can't see where you pointed, or even you pointing to begin with," she finished with a smirk. Of course she had 'seen' him pointing at the men but she did love toying with people about being physically blind. "But you are right, I'm not here to play Sabacc like those guys. Can you imagine a blind woman trying to play a card she can't see?"

She chugged down a decent part of her ale. It was really really cheap stuff and didn't taste great, but it was alcohol and Oria really needed it with the day she had on this jungle planet. She had to admit though it was interesting that this man was basically calling her out on the fact that she was in some trouble. Normally people ignore the blind thinking they can't get in trouble but here he was. "I would seriously hope something violent isn't going to happen, but the Force works in mysterious ways so who knows."

 

[Syan Forossa]

He forgot. In his haste to assure that the presence of the woman in the inn would not lead to violence, he forgot that she was blind. She didn't seem annoyed by it though, which would've made the conversation a lot harder.

Her answer to his question wasn't what he had hoped for at all. But it was what he expected the answer to be. No one was going to respond with "Yeah okay, you got me, this is what's going to happen." Syan would have to be patient. Patience would lead him to the answer. Plus, he wasn't planning on going anywhere with the ungoing storm.

Syan said nothing for a while, deciding to just study the person in front of him. Everyone in the inn, even the bartender, seemed to be in town because they were hiding from government authorities. A blind woman wouldn't survive for long in a place like this. Unless she wasn't blind. It was an assumption, he knew it was possible. He had heard of something similar before. A species, the Miraluka, capable of seeing without eyes. It wouldn't surprise him if she could do the same. While those thoughts crossed his mind, the game of Sabacc behind his back reached it's peak. The room fell silent, as the guests concentrated on their cards, their credits and the interference field.

Syan's was the one who broke the silence. "Say, how does a blind woman survive in a small village like this? I can't possibly imagine a blind woman coming to this village all alone. You must've been born here right?" Finally, he decided to continue the conversation. He had to kill the time anyway and this seemed like a good way to do it. A conversation with a strange blind woman in an inn filled with possibly the most dangerous criminals of the system. That was a story he could entertain his sister back on Ord Mantell with.

 

[Oria Solstice]

Oria felt the starnagers eyes looking her over trying to figure her out. In return she 'eyed' the man up as well, though her version was a lot less noticeable thanks to not using her eyes. She got the distinct feeling of a well trained and patient man about him which was rare in the parts of the galaxy she traveled. That combined with the type of robes he wore made Oria question whether this stranger may be a Jedi, but she decided it's best to let time tell. Unlike most people on this forsaken planet he persisted in his questioning but also seemed to be genuine about it. She had to admit to herself that even though this man seem strange and out of place in this Inn it was a welcomed surprise to have an honest conversation. Well as honest as she was going to be about what may or may not happen with some certain gangsters looking for her.

"I truly couldn't imagine being born in such a horrible place like this," she said with obvious disdain in her words. "But I can't say Nar Shaddaa is a much better place get you get down to the thick of it though." The sound of uproar came from the Sabacc table as a man played a hand too good to be true. In fact it was too good to be true since another patron grabbed the player and pulled their sleeves up to reveal an assortment of extra cards. Needless to say a fight soon arose and Oria quickly pulled her mug off the table just in case anyone would be thrown into it.

"And as a matter of fact I did come to the place all by myself. A girls got to take jobs and get paid in this Galaxy, no matter where it is," she said taking another swig of her ale and trying not to think about how badly she just screwed up her job. "What? Don't think I can take care of myself just because I can't see like you? Well I'm sorry to disappoint. What about you Mr. Prim and Proper? You seem really out of place here." she said with a smirk on her face.

 

[Syan Forossa]

Syan glanced at the men around the Sabacc table. The fighting around the Sabacc table was just the beginning. Their fight sparked something within the other guests, and multiple groups throughout the inn started their own fights as well. The only place in the inn which had not erupted into violence, was their table. He turned to the, now smirking, blind woman. Syan shrugged. "Sometimes even the good men need a bit of darkness." He hoped that the answer was satisfying enough for Oria. While he did not consider himself a good man, he tried to be the best guardian of peace and justice he could be. Right now however, that part of him seemed absent.

The Cathar had come to the small jungle village hoping to find good trackers, who were capable of flying under the radar. Specifically, the radars of the Sith Empire and the Republic. Ever since one of his sisters was taken by the Sith order, he had tried to think of ways to get her back. Step one of course, was locating her. But finding a specific Sith was looking for a needle in a haystack.

"Alright Miss blindfold, what do you do for a living?" Nicknames, he could do that too. Syan observed the fights around him and noticed how some people pulled vibroknives out of their shoes and blasters out of their jackets. In short, it was about to get really dangerous in here. "I think it's time for us to take cover." He didn't plan to participate in this mess and yet, he protracted his right hand claw.

 

[Oria Solstice]

Oria let out an honest chuckle at the Cathar's reaction to the growing bar fight. "What's so wrong that you've already got your claws out? Never been part of an all out bar brawl?" It was always fun for Oria to see how people reacted to bar fights. Though she had to admit the stranger was right in that it seemed to be getting a little out of hand, but she had seen worse so might as well keep drinking.

As she began chugging down the rest of her drink the door of the Inn was kicked in abruptly, similar to how she did only minutes early. Unlike her entrance the Inn was so enthralled in its fighting that no one stopped to notice the well dressed and soaked human Male and a small group of thugs, but Oria did and it made her choke on her ale. "You know what maybe taking cover isn't the worst idea," she said turning her away from the door.

"Find me that blind wench before she escapes me again!" the man said before the thugs started making their way into the Inn.

Quickly she flipped their wooden table on its side before plopping herself down behind it, obviously trying to hide herself from the new 'patrons' of the Inn. She mumbled a string of very creative profanities as she began trying to form a plan of action. "You should probably get down here as well or you're going to look like the real weirdo by being the only one still sitting," she said pulling out one of her concealed pistols.

 

[Syan Forossa]

Syan jumped over the makeshift barricade, landing next to Oria. "This is exactly what I meant with something violent." He said while evading a bottle of wine mid-sentence. He wasn't in the mood for a fight, but he wasn't going to sit around and let Miss Blindfold be taken by the thugs.

"Alright, let's be honest with each other now. You are not blind and I am a Jedi knight." Right now, they had to work together. "I can't use my lightsaber in this room, it'll attract too much attention. The kind of attention that'll kill us." He paused. The new thugs who entered the bar were still searching for them, but it was a matter of time before their hideout became obvious. "So, let's try going outside."

 

[Oria Solstice]

"Oh thank the Force that you're not dumb enough to use a lightsaber right now," she said pulling out the concealed twin to her pistol and handing it to the Cathar. It was a light pistol that didn't pack the biggest punch but it would do the job if aimed right. "And for your information my eyes really are blind, but yeah I can still see..."

Oria took a few deep breaths to help calm herself. She quickly scanned the layout of the Inn before saying, "Alright there are two options here, either the front door where the 'boss man' is or through the bar into the kitchen and out a backdoor," as she finished a blaster bolt shot a hole in the table between them. "Times up, let's go!"

 

[Syan Forossa]

Syan considered their options. The front door was closer, but with all the fighting guests, taking the backdoor would be much easier. "Backdoor it is."

What he needed to get through the fighting crowd, was a weapon. He wasn't going to fight all of these thugs unarmed, even for a Jedi that would be suicide. The blaster bolt which made a hole in the table gave him an idea. Syan grabbed one of the table legs and allowed the force to flow through him, enhancing his strength to inhuman proportions for just a second. With his enhanced strength, he pulled at the table leg, which broke quite easily. The improvised club seemed like a better choice than a blaster or a virbroblade. He wasn't going to kill anyone, so a blunt weapon was a perfect choice for this particular situation.

Syan waited for one of the thugs to approach their table, the small group had split up to find Miss blindfold, which gave them an advantage for now. When the thug approached their hideout, Syan bursted into motion. He launched himself upward and made an uppercut with the table leg. The piece of wood connected with the man's jaw, throwing, who fell backward. Without hesitation, he jumped over the flipped table and darted in the direction of the bar. That place would hopefully give them the cover they needed.

 

[Oria Solstice]

"Alright then, the table leg instead of a blaster. If you're trying to impress me you are going to need to better than that," Oria said with a large smirk on her face. Though when the Cathar suddenly sprung up nearly knocking the thug out in one swing she grudgingly had to admit she was a little bit impressed.

Following his lead she stood up herself. One of her pistols firing the first but definitely not last shot of this seedy Inn bar fight. Her aim wasn't perfect and she missed a little wide on the next closest thug. Though it missed the burly man still moved down to find cover of his own, no doubt pulling out his own blaster and getting ready to return fire. Oria was not opposed to potentially killing those who were trying to her or anyone else harm but that didn't mean she liked it at all. Either way she quickly popped off another shot aimed at another thug before hopping over their table to join the running Jedi.

She pushed her way through a pair of locals brawling it out before firing two more shots at the approaching thugs, one of the shots hitting a thug in the shoulder. At this point the gangsters found their own weapons and began to return fire.

 

[Syan Forossa]

"Is it really not impressive enough?"

As he finished his sentence, the table leg slammed against the back of an unsuspecting local's head who blocked Syan's way to the bar. The piece of wood was enough to make the man fall and possibly knock him out. But Syan didn't have the time to check the local's status, because quite a lot of blaster bolts came in his direction. The bar, his cover, was now close enough for the Cathar Jedi to make the jump. He placed one hand on the bar and jumped over it. One of the blaster bolts grazed his left leg and left a burning sensation as it struck one of the bottles behind the bar.

"Besides, blasters are so uncivilized! It's not like I plan to kill anybody in here!" He yelled over the sound of blasterfire. It took Syan a moment to realize that the waitress, the Twi'lek woman, had taken cover right behind the bar as well. She protected her face from the shards of glass and all kinds of liquor, which seemed to be raining down upon them. "Go hide in the kitchen, this place won't be safe for long." Somewhat anxious, she nodded waiting for the right moment to run for the kitchen. With that settled, he could focus on Miss Blindfold again. "Say Miss Blindfold, how long are you going to keep me waiting?" Syan wasn't going to leave this room without making sure she could make it.

 

[Oria Solstice]

She hid behind a small group of fighting men as the first wave of fire game from the thugs. The men in front of her took the brute force of the bolts taking one or two down, but a few of the blast still made it through. One of the bolts zipped right past the brim of her nose close that she could feel her eyelashes singe. She was actually thankful she couldn't use her eyes because it would have definitely blinded her a while. "I'm making my way over, don't you worry!"she shouted out as she pushed her way off of a falling man.

This was turning into a real mess... And to be honest she was to blame. Now that thought didn't make her feel good. Finally she managed to make her way over to the bat, but instead of hopping over at the Cathar had she slid around the edge. A few shard of glass cutting up her lower legs. "I dont suppose now is the time to see if that free drink is still on the table?" she said with a large smirk. Her right arm suddenly reaching up and firing two more shots over the counter. Another advantage of being blind is that you don't have to pop your head up to know where your shooting. She didn't stop to wait for a reply before she started to crawl her way over towards the kitchen. Once in she stopped up and placed her back to the wall for cover.

 

[Syan Forossa]

Syan followed right behind Oria, crawling over the broken glass into the kitchen. The shards of glass made cuts in his hands and legs, but he had no time to worry about that right now. Instead, they had to form a second barricade to defend the kitchen. Once in, he immediately began his search for something like the table they had used before; heavy enough to block the entrance with. The large cupboard next to the entrance would do, but moving it would require more than just him and Oria. But there was an easier way to get atleast a part of the cupboard in front of the entrance. His yellow lightsaber bursted to life for a second, only to perform a swift cut to weaken the structure of the cupboard. A light force pull was now all he needed to get the upper half of the cupboard in front of the door.

"So, why are these men so hell-bent on taking you down? I'd like to know since I'm part of it now as well." He paused. The thugs tried to bash in the door, but the cupboard bought him and Miss Blindfold some time.

 

[Oria Solstice]

Oria was thankful for the short break that the toppled cupboard would provide. At least for now she could catch her breath and think about what the plan will be when they get outside. However the Jedi's question took her by surprise, though it shouldn't have considered she was the one that got him into this mess.

She let out a slightly nervous chuckle befor saying, "I may or may not have spent a decent amount of alone time with the boss's wife. And then his daughter. But maybe it was the 2 tons of cargo I stole and smuggled onto my ship..." She looked over and shrugged her shoulders at the man. "Who's to say which one of those it was. Either way I would like to get away soon." She smirked the last of that sentence out before starting to make her way through the rest of the kitchen. As she walked towards the back door she noticed a few pieces of what appeared to be bacon and quickly used the Force to pulled a piece over and took a bite.

"Hurry up slow poke, we need to get out of here before they grow a brain an realize they can go out the front door and catch up to us."

 

[Syan Forossa]

"That would explain why they seem to want you dead." Syan made a mental note to make sure he'd never let this woman near his personal belongings. "So how did you plan to get away? The only way would be with a canoe, but I doubt that it'll work with this kriffing rain." the options they had were limited. They could try and hide, fight or try to escape with a small boat. Thinking of their options, he noticed Miss Blindfold's use of the force. It didn't surprise him in the least. "Let me get this straight. You are a blind, force-sensitive female smuggler who just stole cargo from a dangerous gang. Anything else I should know?" Instead of an answer, he received a snarky comment on the fact that they hadn't gotten out yet.

He followed Oria through the backdoor of the kitchen, just before the thugs in the Inn managed to break through their barricade. The warm and thick droplets of water rained down upon him. The rain made him soaking wet in less than thirty seconds. Despite the heavy rainfall, Syan was kind of relieved to be outside again. Casinos and bars made him uncomfortable.

"So now what? Do we take the canoe? Hide? Fight?" They were in this together now. He could look for a tracker to find his sister another time. His current priority was to make sure he and Miss Blindfold could get out of here alive.

 

[Oria Solstice]

"I say why not a mix of both hide and try to find a way out of here." Oria pulled up the hood of her cloak as the rain drenched her within seconds. Gods she hated jungles, especially when it was down pouring. "And Oria," she said turning to face the presumably confused Jedi. "My names Oria, Oria Solstice." She really hoped the Jedi had never heard a tale of the little youngling boy Oran Solstice and his Master Demora who never came back from their first mission together, and was able to put two and two together. Though admittedly she definitely wasn't a boy anymore, but she still could have been a little more creative with her name...

"And I didn't just 'steal' from 'dangerous gang', I stole from a gang that I learnt has connections with slavers. And I'm not letting them win at anything I do with then." Quickly she started to walk away from the Inn and into town. Wait a minute the gang wasn't from this town but the next one over, so that meant they had transport but also they were in another gangs territory. "How do you feel about starting a full out terf war Jedi?"

 

[Syan Forossa]

Oria Solstice

. The name had a familiar tone to it, but he didn't know where he heard it before. Perhaps on Ord Mantell long ago, or the streets of Jedha. Alhtough he doubted that Oria would visit a planet with a Jedi temple out of free will. "Well that's a shame. I started to like calling you Miss Blindfold." he jokingly proclaimed. "I am Syan Forossa. And I have to add that I'm not here on a mission or something, so please keep the fact that I've been here a secret." Syan didn't want the Jedi order to find out that he'd been here instead of where he was supposed to be.

When Oria mentioned that the criminals who just chased them had connections with slavers, his opinion of them changed entirely. Syan respected all life, except Sith or individuals who had connections with slavery. Therefore, when Oria mentioned starting a full out terf war, he could not refuse. "Lead the way, let's learn show this town what happens when you piss off Miss Blindfold and Mr. Prim and Proper." He had to say it one last time, the order rarely gave him opportunities to mess around.

 

[Oria Solstice]

Oria lead the way to deeper into the town. Even though it was pouring down out here there was still a decent amount of people outside, but most of them were under the large balconies that were attached to nearly every building. Hopefully with their hoods up they could blend in with the rest of the soaked townspeople.

"Alright Syan, so that gang I pissed off is from another town that has a large rivalry with this towns gang leaders. I came here because I though they wouldn't follow me here, but they did... she said with obvious disdain. It was nice that she didn't have to keep physically looking back to see if anyone was following, which would make them more obvious. "So I had the idea of why don't we go and tell the local boss that their rival just shot up the inn? That should help us both get out of trouble and find us a way back to the spaceport."