Ask Lothal Tailing a Tail

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Zad shook his head in disbelief. Idiot. He thought toward the screen on the console in his cockpit. Idiot of a Ranger, Mr. Ruzed, to have missed the details. How had he managed to blank the robber leaving the bank back at Lothal? How had he managed to miss the dots that were connected to the dagger and the Huttese?

You’re getting old, partner… He was. But there was no stopping it. Zad Ruzed was aging with the universe that gave him up and there was just no stopping it. Ah well… The Ranger twisted his cigarette out, downed his glass of whisky, rubbed the back of his head and parked his ship at a port on Lothal.

The Iron Justice opened its maw for a man of justice to walk the ramp, big iron on his hip, hidden behind a long black leather coat. In the Outer Rim, this Ranger’s home sector was Arvala, but business brought him to Lothal as business brought the Rangers anywhere and everywhere.

Huttese. Dagger. Smoke curled toward a cloudy sky as Zad Ruzed hugged the backseat of a taxi that took him to an inn. He had no mind of staying the night but someone else might. The cab driver didn’t know it but he had been tailing the car in front of him this whole time.

Dagger. Huttese. The Ranger had since connected the dots. Now he was following their origin point. The other Human had no idea of the Ranger keeping his distance behind, walking through the rain, before the pair arrived on a higher floor.

Zad exited one elevator, his target another. The latter reached a door. The former expected a keycard to come out. But a hand did. He’s knocking. Clearly the gangster was meeting someone, but who? Hugging the wall of a corridor, Zad made sure no one else was in the area and watched.

@Sicadorito

 

[Zaia Krodas]

It had been a long day making beds for the inn to pay off the additional days’ stay she needed, and all Zaia wanted was some nice, warm food for dinner. Thanks to that attempted bank robbery a few days ago, she’d been unable to withdraw the credits she needed to get off the planet, and subsequently pay for her hotel room. With what little credits she had left on her, she’d ordered some delivery from a nearby restaurant as she’d been too lazy to go out and pick it up herself. The excuse she gave herself was that putting on her armor would take far too long, and that her favorite white shirt and dark gray leggings were more comfortable anyway. And so when she heard a knock at her door, she thought nothing of it.

Hauling herself out of the bed and pulling out what remained of her credits, she headed over to the door and opened it, not even looking at who was there as she handed the money over. Unfortunately, in place of receiving food, she was given a knee in the gut instead. Staggering back and grunting in pain as she clutched her stomach, the credits in her hand clattered to the floor. That was the least of her worries, however. She looked up to find a very tall someone in a mask, but even through it she could tell that whoever it was was a Trandoshan given the amount of hissing she heard.

“Hey! What’s the deal? I just wanted some food!” she exclaimed before being met with a punch in the face that sent her falling to the ground. Before she could pick herself up to fight back though, the Trandoshan had pinned her arms behind her back. And as someone who relied on her agility rather than strength in a fight, she knew she didn’t stand a chance trying to throw him off. Damn it, Zai.

“You… lost the boss a deal,” the Trandoshan hissed. “He needed the money… from the bank.”

“They were robbing it, for kriff’s sake! Just make a withdrawal if you need the-” Then she heard the tell-tale click of a blaster behind her back. After all this, is this seriously how I’m going to die?

@Die Shize

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC

The door opened. Who’s behind it? Someone just as ugly? He couldn’t see but whoever it was appeared to be foe instead of friend. If this was a deal going south or a betrayal or just a gangster’s way of saying hi, Zad hung back a little more to find out.

Female voice. It wasn’t every day but Zad had to hit a woman once or twice before, the last one on account of swinging a wine bottle in his general direction. So, all right, a hit might make sense. But not two. At the punch to the face, the Ranger took off down the corridor.

He paid more attention to the Trandoshan than whatever he was saying, seeing only red. A blaster was raised. It was not Zad’s. He raised his boot instead. -CRACK!- It landed on his target’s back.

The Ranger glimpsed the woman on the ground but not long enough to make out the face as the Trandoshan turned around with reptilian agility. His three claws for fingers lashed out. Zad jumped back then dashed forward, snatching his opponent’s wrist while ramming his shoulder into his chest.

The Trandoshan hissed in place of roaring, slamming his head into Zad’s. He staggered backward, fighting off a daze, glancing at how close the Trandoshan’s feet were to where the woman’s were. The Ranger would recover in a moment but didn’t like wasting time when it came to fighting for your life.

@Sicadorito

 

[Zaia Krodas]

The feeling of the blaster’s muzzle on the back of her head caused adrenaline to shoot through her blood. However, before she could brace herself for the pain, Zaia felt the Trandoshan stumble behind her and then his arm releasing her wrists. Someone else is here.

Rubbing her pounding head as she tried to sit up, Zaia saw someone staggering backwards towards her, and the Trandoshan getting ready for another punch. For now, the adrenaline overpowered the throbbing pain in her head, and Zaia was able to pull the legs out from underneath the Trandoshan right before he was able to land the blow. Immediately afterwards though, the adrenaline faded and her vision flashed before her. Everything was spinning. She fell to her knees once more, trying to keep herself from throwing up when what could only be a kick from the Trandoshan at her side sent her slamming into the wall.

Her world blacked out for a few seconds there, but when she managed to regain consciousness she realized that she still couldn’t see a thing. There was some scuffling going on, but she couldn’t make out who was winning. As much as she hated to admit it, whoever was helping her would be on their own.

@Die Shize

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

Feet found legs and down the Trandoshan went. Zad was on the rebound but so was his opponent. With that agility of his, the reptile steadied his fall and twirled away. Zad gave him another kick but his boot found the room’s front door and struck only metal. He kept it there a moment longer than he might have.

The Trandoshan was swift but predictable. He went for the leg. Zad withdrew it immediately and something from his coat. The stun baton cracked against his opponent’s cheek, his back, then his knee as he dropped to both.

“You’re both dead!” the Trandoshan hissed while twitching from the shocks.

“Been dead since the day I was born, partner.” With that, a final swing knocked his enemy out cold. From there, Zad cursed himself for having lost his breath already, clutching his chest. Damn. The claw had caught him after all, a few red streaks in the shirt. Missed the jacket at least. The scratches didn’t seem deep but would need mending.

The Ranger walked over to the woman. She was motionless on the floor, facing the other way. Kneeling down, Zad turned her over slowly. Well I’ll be a Jedi’s Sith mistress. “Zaia Krodas,” Zad grinned. “What are the odds?”

Whether she came to or not, he held a hand over his mouth, stifling whatever was in his throat, before exploding toward the wall in a coughing fit. He leaned over, steadied himself with fist to floor, and when he wiped his mouth again there were a few red drops glistening on the skin.

@Sicadorito

 

[Zaia Krodas]

Soon enough the fighting seemed to have stopped, but the blank (still-spinning?) wall staring back at her didn’t give her a very good view of what the outcome was. Maybe closing her eyes for a minute would help with the dizziness. She heard someone walking towards her, but she was still too tired to move to see who it was. She couldn’t even protest when they turned her over.

When she opened her eyes, she hardly recognized the face looking down at her. Her vision was still blurry, but she knew that whoever it was wasn’t a stranger. When he said her name… that voice was familiar.

“Zad?” She blinked a few times, squinting to get a better look. As he leaned over and coughed, Zaia used what little strength she had left to pull herself up so that she was sitting against the wall. Tilting her head back, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before opening them again and looking around the room. The Trandoshan was knocked out cold, to her relief. Zad wasn’t looking so good either, she realized when she saw some blood on his face.

“Are you alright?” she asked him, still trying to wrap her head around what had just happened. Food delivery. Trandoshan. A fight. Zad… saving her life. At the last thought, she turned her head slowly so that she was facing him, a weak, though grateful smile playing across her lips.

“Thank you,” she managed to say before she felt the urge to throw up again. She bit the inside of her cheek, then when the feeling subsided she looked back over at the ranger and asked the stupidest question of her life. “Do you need a cough drop?”

@Die Shize

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC

He wouldn’t admit it but he was glad that Zaia was awake as much for herself as for him. It wasn’t the first time he had hacked his lungs out. But it might be the first time I pass out from it.

Upon being thanked for whatever the hell he didn’t need to be thanked for, Zad bit his inner lip as though wanting to draw more blood and met the woman’s eyes.

“I’m fine.” It was a lie but an honest one. “But you don’t lo—” He blinked. “...Cough drop?” Then snickered, until the snickering became laughter, and the laughter turned into coughing all over again.

It was all the Ranger could do to switch from his knees to his backside as he propped his back against the wall beside Zaia. “That Trandoshan was one tough son of a blaster…but here we are and there he is…”

Sighing, Zad reached into his coat, wincing as fingers grazed wounds, and came back out with a cigarette between his lips. But no lighter. It must have fallen out in the scuffle.

“Clearly he remembers you.” It may or may not have been obvious enough to put two and two together given that their last meeting was back at that bank. And here we are.

@Sicadorito

 

[Zaia Krodas]

Zaia could tell that Zad was very much not fine, but when his snicker turned into all out laughing at the mention of the cough drop she couldn’t help but smile along with him. Then he started coughing again, and her expression changed to one of concern. He hadn’t been coughing this bad last time she’d seen him, and that had been in a cloud of dust.

She was about to comment on that, but he brought up the Trandoshan instead. “The last time I saw one of them, a friend of mine fought him off no problem,” she said. “His head came off just like-” Oops. She’d revealed more than she wanted to. It seemed that the gangster had hit her head just a little too hard.

“So much for better circumstances,” Zaia said with a rueful sigh as she rubbed the side of her head where the Trandoshan had punched her. Her eyes widened when she saw red blood on the tips of her fingers instead. It was only then that she felt the sticky liquid trickling down the right side of her face. The bleeding didn’t seem too bad, though she couldn’t really see or feel the extent of the injury since half her face was still throbbing.

“Dank farrik. I could have taken him if I had my gear,” she muttered to herself as she looked longingly over at the backpack on the opposite side of the room that contained her armor and weapons. She looked back over at Zad, who was now sitting beside her. “And you wouldn’t have had to get hurt.”

@Die Shize

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

Zad creased his brows in some curiosity as to what kind of friends this kid kept. He fancied all the ways she might have finished her sentence. Head came off just like…a cork from a bottle? A cough drop from an old man coughing it up? Zaia had already proven that she could fight, but killing was another story. A whole other story.

“Better circumstances,” Zad chuckled, managing to do so without interruption this time. He remembered that moment outside the bank like it was yesterday. “They’re out there somewhere waiting for us. We’ll find ‘em.”

Confused over his own switch from positive to negative, the old man sunk his head against the wall and stared at the room while looking beyond it.

Zaia muttered something just then. Heh. I see. Now it really does all make sense…like beans and peas on a hill in a crazy universe.

“This?” Zad gestured to whatever his body was right now. “This ain’t a thing, kid.” He looked at her, eyes roaming face. Might be too young for this business if she was anyone else. Her kind, however, was never too young for violence.

“I got a few scratches but a head injury is no joke. C'mon, let’s get you fixed up.” Expecting her to maybe brush off her wounds like the rest of her people, Zad decided to compromise. “Let’s get both of us fixed up. Agreed?”

Though, he didn’t forget about the Trandoshan in the room. “Then we’ll deal with the di’kut.” With that, the Ranger extended his hand to the Mandalorian. They would stand up together.

@Sicadorito

 

[Zaia Krodas]

Zaia smiled faintly as Zad gestured to himself. She didn’t say anything in response, knowing that whatever she said wouldn’t convince him to take some care of himself. But she did notice that the way he was looking at her now was different than it was before.

“Oh, I don’t need any help. Just give me a few more hours of rest and I’ll be fine,” Zaia said with a shrug that renewed the pulsing pain in her head. When he offered that he would get some help for himself too though, she couldn’t say no to that. She was more worried about him. Was it his age? Probably. But she didn’t say that out loud.

“Alright, deal,” she said with a smile. Then she froze when she heard one word come out of his mouth. Di’kut. And from the look on his face, he knew very well who she was. So much for keeping that a secret.

She took his hand and tried to get to her feet, the sudden action making her dizzy all over again. She stumbled a few inches before she was able to catch herself with her free hand on the nightstand, her other hand holding on firmly to Zad. Hopefully she wouldn’t drag him down with her. But then as she looked towards the door, she realized something else.

“Wait. I can’t go,” she said, turning back to look at her bag. “I can’t go out wearing this. I need my armor. You get help first. I’ll be- I’ll be right behind you.”

@Die Shize

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

It was a struggle but the two were upright and all right, for the most part. Zad was no philosopher yet couldn’t help but see the symbolism in how the two of them really did stand up together.

Leaning on each other already. He had a feeling there would be more of that to come, because the Ranger knew what hunted the Mandalorian even if she did not.

Zad followed Zaia’s gaze and smiled. “You’re a Mando in a motel. Between the two of you there’s bound to be a medkit around here somewhere.” He hoped to make it clear that neither of them were in a condition to leave right now, and that condition included one unconscious Trandoshan.

“Hypospray, stabilizer, analyzer, painkiller, whatever.” He shrugged. “I’m no medic but people like us have to know how to act like one when the occasion calls for it.” The first aid equipment would at least get the pair functioning enough for any higher treatment that might be needed.

Given that he did not hear sirens or footsteps, Zad figured Zaia’s neighbors were out and about and the commotion otherwise went unheard. That gave them time to sort things out, whether that meant sealing a head wound or sealing a bucket over the head.

“First things first,” Zad looked left, looked right. “Where do you keep the whisky?”

@Sicadorito

 

[Zaia Krodas]

“A medkit?” Zaia blinked. Then she remembered that she did have one buried somewhere inside her bag. She hadn’t had to use it for a long time, she realized. The last time she’d gotten hurt was when she’d met him. And he’d healed her using nothing but his mind. Just thinking of the man made her smile, but then she remembered that Zad was still next to her and that she needed to get to the medkit.

“Right. I’ve got it,” she said. Then she brows knit into a frown when the ranger asked about the whisky. This guy was starting to remind her of Cas. Rough on the outside, had noble hearts even if they didn’t want to admit it, commitments to things much larger than themselves, along with a love for alcohol. Or maybe it was just her head injury and she was slowly going insane.

“Sorry. I don’t have any right now. But… I can get you some later, if you want?” she offered with a slight grin before slowly making her way towards the bag. She used the bed and the wall to keep herself upright. So far so good. She lowered herself to her knees to open the bag, and after rummaging through all her other clothes and gear she found the medical kit at the very bottom. Pulling it out, she put it on the floor and opened the box. Everything was unopened and still in its original packaging since she’d never actually had to use the kit before, but that was probably a good thing.

She took out the medical spray, ripped off a couple strips of bandages, as well as some medical tape. She tied the bandages loosely around the tape roll and tossed it all onto the bed, close to where Zad was. “That’s for your chest. It should help it heal a bit faster,” she said to him before getting a bandage for herself and tying it around the top of her head to stop the bleeding. “I think I just need some rest. Oh, and before I forget.” She opened the front pouch of her backpack and took out a small bag.

“Have a cough drop.”

@Die Shize

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

Zad shook his head. “Oh…no.” As much as he could do with a drink, that wasn’t his primary reason for asking. “Whisky’s part of the first aid kit, kid. Just doesn’t come standard issue.”

They could make do without it. Well, Zaia could, that was for sure. Zad had half the mind to handle all this, given her head injury, but the girl stepped up to the plate and went to work. Damn. That was a thought of being impressed.

Then came the cough drop. Damn. That was the thought of denying he needed one. Wrestling with whether to smile or frown, he settled for a shrug and took the medicine like a man. “Well, I already argue with my doctors so won’t add you to the list.”

The Ranger plugged the cough drop into his mouth and scrunched up his face something fierce. “Sour. Lemon. This Mandalorian medicine or poison?”

Checking around, Zad knew what to do. “Get your rest. I’ll make sure you wake up. First I’m gonna secure the room, this bozo and that couch. Before that, though, I’m gonna take a leak.” He still had to patch himself up too and preferred to do that in privacy.

Stepping away, Zad paused but didn’t look back. She had thanked him more than once. For what? The Ranger never had any doubts about his work. He helped people, saved lives, ended ones that didn’t deserve to keep going. But that was then. This is now. And, Zad, you’re just an old man now.

“Thanks again and...you're welcome. Good night.” A tired, childless old man.

@Sicadorito

 

[Zaia Krodas]

Zaia rolled her eyes as she leaned against the wall behind her backpack. “Trust me, you really don’t want to,” she affirmed. She grinned when he put the cough drop in his mouth and complained about its taste. “Doesn’t matter how it tastes, Zad. What does is if it works,” she responded with a grin. “As with most things.”

She pulled herself back into a standing position when Zad checked the room and headed back over to the bed, sighing in relief as she flopped on the mattress face-first. Laying on the bed felt infinitely times better than on the rough carpet.

“Mhm. Sure. You go do that,” she responded, her voice muffled due to the blanket covering her mouth. She was already starting to get sleepy, and whether or not that was a good thing she would find out later. Forget the meal— what she needed now was a nice, long rest. With her mind already starting to count shaaks, she hardly heard what Zad said afterwards. But she did get the memo that he was about to leave.

“Good night,” she responded as she gave him a small wave from where she was, still not lifting her face. She didn’t know if he could see, but it was worth a try.

Once she heard the door click shut, Zaia did the same with her senses, letting herself drift off into a dreamless sleep. At first glance it might have looked like she was dead, but she was anything but defeated. Instead, she had been beaten into an even sharper sword, one that would become the maker’s demise once complete. She would get those thugs back when she was ready.

//Exit character//

@Die Shize