Chaos and Order

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

"Oh?"

s'Il ticked an eyebrow upwards. "And what is it that your mother used to say? Did she tell you stories that seemed grand and far away, lessons that had nothing to do with anything but memories and remembering dead people?

"Or perhaps she went mad like most of us did in our last days, spouting nonsense and age-old verses?"

[Arya Ravenwing]

Her eyes went flat and her expression smoothed to marble. If she could get the drop on her, a well placed punch to her temple or jaw would knock the other into unconsciousness. Anything to get her to shut the frell up.

Arya wondered if she could leave and pretend she'd never seen the other Lupine. What a piece of work. Somehow, she thought, Whitey would know. "You talk as though you imagine you know me, but you do not know me."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

"Perhaps you're right."

s'Il softened her gaze, taking a step back and finally giving the other Lupine some personal space. She brushed an errant lock of blonde hair from her eyes, and sniffed at the slight breeze that'd just picked up.

"I certainly don't know you, but I do know what you are. And that is enough. If you have no idea about your own people, than that isn't my problem. It is a shame yes, but that is the way of things I suppose."

She stepped further back further into the darkness, a single reflected orb visible. Her next words were neutral; there was no malice nor any hint of her stern tone from before; they simple were

"Unless you wish to stop living in ignorance... "

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Of course I don't want to live in ignorance. I wanted to talk to you because you prove that I am not a genetic abberation. Frell, I didn't even know you existed until a few months ago. And my life has been hell ever since!"

A group of people came by, and Arya lowered her voice. "My mother was Lysa Ravenwing. She was nuts. I was raised on Ryloth by her until she died. I want to know."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

s'Il said nothing, digesting this new information about the woman's mother.

"Ravenwing," she said finally after a few moments of thought, "A Lesser House."

She was quiet once more, meticulously thinking through her next actions. She would be teaching the enemy, in essence, about their shared history. There could be worse things, she surmised, but still the thought remained After a short while she blinked.

"How do I know you won't decide that the credits of a reward for my capture won't override any desire to know about our kind."

[Arya Ravenwing]

"I have no interest in the bounty on your head." True enough. All Arya wanted was for the Empire to leave her the frell alone, and they wouldn't do that until she delivered s'Ilancy to them. Or led them to her. There were no credits involved. "On that you have my word."

A lesser house? What did that mean? Arya's hand itched for the cool feel of the medallion around her neck, but of course it wasn't there. "My ship is on landing pad 42d. The Wing of the Raven."

The smuggler walked out of the shadows, bending down once to pick up her ruined blaster out of the road. She looked back once at the darkened place under the awning, and then turned and kept walking.

Her mind was racing. Loklorien was not a fool. She could keep on going and never look back. She was also stranded on this City without clothes and without credits or a ship. And she'd just found another of her own kind, or at least someone close to her own kind. Arya was a betting woman, and she bet that she was holding the winning hand.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

She watched the Lupine walk away, choosing to stay a few more minutes in the dark. Was it chance? Or fate? s'Il frowned in thought.

Only a fool would trust a Loveloxx.

Klavius' voice was startling, and s'Il had almost forgotten of his existence. As it was, she merely gave a thin lipped grimace.

And what would you have me do?

Kill the thing. Take her ship.

One blue eye going up to look at the stars, she allowed a sigh to escape.

Than it is a good thing that our places are not reversed.

She would not be missed; she is but a Lesser House of a flawed Bloodline.

Even the Lesser Houses had their uses. I'll save my judgment for later. I need her, and she needs me.

You are a fool then, Apex.

The rest of his complaints went unheeded as s'Il stepped from the deep shadows...

... and soon enough the sleek body of the white vornskr was walking almost lazily at the raven-haired woman's side.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya's body was so tense that her neck was starting to ache, and when the white vornskr joined her it did little to ease the tension. She kept walking, heading for her ship, and avoided the military outpost on the same level.

Who knew what the Empire knew about Loklorien's altered form. They probably knew everything about it by now, if they'd had her in custody. Probably just waiting for Esalis to show up, got lazy, and the woman pulled some sort of Jedi trick and walked out from under their noses.

Her head started to ache. Waiting for Esalis to show up. The errant thought rang of truth, and Arya wondered if she really could betray the only other being of her own kind to that devil woman. When, not if, Esalis arrived, it would be best for Arya to be far away.

The smuggler's hand shook as she keyed in the access code to the landing pad she'd been assigned to. The doors slid open, revealing the Chevette77 freighter in all of its glory. Not much to look at on the outside, really.

Holding a hand up she stopped Lok from entering the pad area. "Security cams don't have sound. But..." Arya took out her vibroblade from her boot and chucked it at the holocam mounted just inside the security doors. The sonically sharp blade severed the camera's mount and the wires leading from it. "Ok, never mind."

She locked the doors behind them, and pulled out her commlink. "Hey Solomon, I'm coming in. Sorry if its a little early but something came up." Arya looked down at the vornskr at her side. "I have a ...fare. He's a preacher. Don't worry about him." She approached the ship, walking around to where the ramp was extending.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Following in Ravenwing's wake, s'Il slowed only slightly. That there was a fare aboard wasn't all too surprising; pilots often took passengers to pay the bills, and Sanis had done it plenty of times. She was accustomed to it.

And just as she had done before, s'Il let the reversion take hold. The transition was smooth, and once more she stood on two feet. Hair brushed back over her shoulders, s'Il stepped forward after the other woman and around to the boarding ramp, making sure to stand behind and to the side of the taller woman.

[Rev Solomon]

After ten years on the Dantooine frontier, even a modest hub like Cloud City was a load for the senses. Reverend Solomon tried not to rubberneck as he picked his way through crowds of more different species than he'd seen in decades. His nerfhide coat and wide-brimmed hat drew a number of multi-ocular stares, but there was enough authority in his long strides that no one gave him any grief.

He hadn't strayed far from the landing pad. While Arya hadn't forbidden him to leave the ship, she had hinted strongly that it wouldn't be a good idea to try to board while she wasn't home. So he'd been counting on spending a good six hours or so exploring, observing, re-acclimating himself to an unfamiliar galaxy.

Solomon bought a falafel from a cart vendor and started heading east again, back in the direction of the landing pad. City life was much as he remembered it - the breakneck pace, the isolation in the middle of a crowd, the concentration of every sentient virtue and vice. He used to live in such a city, even thrived there. Now he felt as out of place as a wampa on Tatooine.

He raised the falafel to his mouth and then saw a small figure huddled in an alleyway, a Twi'lek boy faded from hunger. Solomon stepped over, smiled lightly, and extended the steaming wrap to the child. He could afford to be hungry for a day. The boy snatched it and disappeared into the darkness of the alley.

Solomon straightened up and turned in time to see an urgent notice flashing on a vidscreen in a bar across the street. Idly curious, he crossed the flow of the bustling crowd for a closer look.

Dangerous fugitive named...

"No... It isn't possible."

The comlink in his pocket squelched, and he pulled it out in time to hear "coming in. Sorry if it's a little early but something came up."

First a darksider stowaway. And now this. Solomon wheeled around and struck out back down the road. Something in his gut told him he needed to get back to the Raven. And soon.

[Arya Ravenwing]

"First you need some clothes." Arya turned to look at the very nude female behind her, adding, "Unfortunately you're quite a bit shorter than me, but I think I have something that will work."

Loklorien said nothing to indicate whether clothes would be a good thing or a bad thing, but stood in the dim light of the passageway with her arms folded in front of her. The smuggler bit back what she really wanted to say to this ungrateful beast, and instead ducked into her cabin. When she emerged a few moments later, the other woman hadn't moved. Which was good.

Arya handed her a pair of pants and a t-shirt. "This'll have to do for now. Solomon's seen enough nakedness during this trip that I should double the price he's paying me." The ...Losstarot? raised an eyebrow, but pulled on the clothes quickly enough. Arya got a good look at a burnt emblem on her back - some sort of brand. It looked like a halfmoon and a star, and like it probably had hurt quite a bit. Loklorien knelt to roll up the pantlegs so she wouldn't trip on them, and then resumed her former position of crossed arms and an inscrutable expression.

The smuggler mimicked her pose. "Why the attitude?"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

She blinked. Everything on this ship smelled like Ravenwing - a Loveloxx. It was such a new smell that s'Il relegated herself to silence as she allowed her nose to pick apart the scents swirling around her. In some ways it was fascinating, and not unlike the first time she'd smelled the spicy exotic air of Cathar. She had become so used to smelling the aromas that had been at the citadel and with her own possessions that while the familiarity of the Lovelexx scent was tangible, it was also wholly different.

Of course, Klavius' verbal tirades were hard enough to ignore in such an environment.

She blinked again.

"I've not seen nor smelled a Loveloxx before."

Unabashedly s'Il reached out, a hand going to Ravenwing's shoulder in an attempt to turn her around. It was a gentle, but firm motion.

"Your House Brand - where is it."

[Rev Solomon]

Solomon keyed in the access code to the landing pad - Arya hadn't made a special effort to hide it. As he stepped through the security gate, he took note of the decapitated security camera sparking quietly on the duracrete.

He stopped a respectful distance away from the Raven. Arya had obviously been spooked enough to ward off prying eyes, and he wasn't sure whether she'd also keyed up the automated defenses. He reached for his commlink.

"Arya. It's Solomon. Mind opening the back door?"

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya knocked the s'Ilancy's hand away from her shoulder. "Lesser house or not, you're not going to order me around on my own ship." She had no idea what she was talking about, but hoped it sounded good. "And, I'm not ...branded. Was nearly by a group of slavers, but that ended badly. For the slavers."

"Arya. It's Solomon. Mind opening the back door?"

The Reverend's voice broke the sudden stalemate between the two Lupines, and Arya fished out her commlink. "Just a second."

She kept a wary eye on her visitor as she backed towards the ramp controls, activating the mechanism to open it.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

There you see??!

s'Il ignored the voice still. Instead she grit her teeth. She was an Apex! That this ship belonged to... Arya, as the voice on the commlink had called her - was no excuse for such behavior, and the feeling shown in her eye.

If she could have, she would've slapped the Loveloxx with a merciless backhand. As it was, s'Il simply stood fuming. Again she reminded herself that she needed the other Lupine.

[Rev Solomon]

The aft hatch hissed open, and Solomon came up the ramp with a slow, steady gait. He stepped into the main compartment and removed his hat.

"Excuse me. Didn't know you had company."

He stared at Lok, stared longer than he knew he should've, his memories and his rational mind battling to make sense of what he was seeing.

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Yeah. Company." Arya keyed the hatch closed again, then turned and walked into the living area. "Be careful, I think she bites."

She dug into the fridge, pulling a ready-to-heat dinner out of the freezer. After a moment's hesitation she pulled out a second, then popped them both into the microwave.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Not allowing herself to be drawn into any sort of juvenile squabbling, s'Il gave a singular hmph before turning her eye to the newcomer.

His staring was certainly something to give her pause, and she let her thoughts stray from Arya. He smelled of wandering; of dirt and leather and knowledge. She could even smell his sweat. It was enough to give her pause, and she ticked an eyebrow upwards. There was something vaguely familiar about that scent, but she couldn't place it.

He said his name had been, what; Solomon?

Even that was familiar, but not enough. She stuffed her hands into the pockets of the trousers that'd been provided, then turned to follow after Arya. Eyes narrowed in thought, she cast a glance over her shoulder at him before stepping into the living area.

[Rev Solomon]

Solomon turned toward his cabin and shrugged off his calf-length coat, but he paused in the doorway. Part of him wanted to play the ignorant bystander - let them hash out their business, whatever it was, so he and Arya could be on their way. He'd never intended to go back to his old way of life. He was finished with it.

But this was too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence. Too much to be believed, even for a man of faith. His faith wasn't big enough for this. He had to be sure.

"Excuse me, Miss..." He looked over his shoulder and caught her glancing back at him. "There are some people in this galaxy for whom the word 'remnant' carries a special meaning."

[Arya Ravenwing]

Balancing the two ready-to-heats and a tumbler of whiskey, Arya plunked herself down at the booth, sliding the second heated meal across the laminated tabletop to the other side. Wielding a plastic fork with deadly efficiency, she attacked her portion of "Salisbury Nerf Steak" and washed down the first few bites with the whiskey.

Solomon was talking to Loklorien just outside of the living space, probably trying to determine if her eternal soul needed saving. If Arya was any judge, it certainly was in dire need of a little compassion. Not that a lesser house needed compassion from this.... whatever she was.

Frell, she didn't even know what the other woman was talking about and she was already riled up about it. Arya tipped back the tumbler and stabbed her fork into the meat in front of her.