My Name is Solomon Crae

[iamthehoyden]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! He's so adorably insane!!

Adorable? *mulls the thought over*

Uh, she said 'adorably insane.' You forgot the 'insane' part.

Oh, right, well...perhaps.

Delicious.

mmm mmm good

 

****

20 – Those Left Behind

 

 

I have spent the past months in the company of creatures who move on two legs. More time than any since I left Malek on Kasnee 8. It felt good to be out in the wild again, like part of me had been smothered and only now could breathe. The bite of the mountain wind in my nose, the scent of cold-dried leaves beneath feet. There is a rhythm to walking through woods, following the small paths animals make winding back and forth through the trees, each step a heartbeat.

 

Skari and I had driven as far as we could, but the dense woods made it difficult to move through on speeders, so we were on foot. The lock of hair that always falls into her face blew back as she moved swiftly through the forest, small wisps breaking loose from the spiraled knot she kept her hair in. A Chiss, in armor, scars on her face, and yet she didn't look out of place here, didn't feel out of place. A wild creature in this wild place, wearing the skin of civilization. I grinned at her ground-eating stride, allowing her to forge ahead. The way her hips swayed as she moved was distracting, but worth the hunger it sparked. She glanced back at me, her brows drawn down in a scowl. She is the fire in this cold wild place.

 

We reached the edge of the clearing: an abandoned building, a weathered fence...it all looked very innocent.

 

Creatures who live in the underworld depend on escape routes. They cache supplies and credits, hide exits, and survive by being able to leave a location, even an identity, behind if necessary. An underworld creature without an escape route will go to ground, fight with his back to the wall, but it will be in vain. He is not one for direct confrontation, and there he will die. It was what I had missed. Akko Nadras had become an underworld creature, and Akko Nadras was losing his escape routes.

 

The pack had been busy sabotaging his transports, slicing his accounts. Soon Nadras would find his foundations crumbling beneath his very feet. Without credit to pay them, his army would unravel. Without transport, he would be trapped. And then, I would kill him.

 

The hunt for today? One of his personal shuttles. It was hidden far out in the wilderness, high up on a mountain side. A small job, but necessary. Skari had the explosives expertise; I had the tracking. She wasn't happy about being alone with me. My cat is wary and beautiful, as always.

 

"This the place?" Skari asked, looking around. The clearing was dotted with hardy flowers, the type that poke through snow on the leading edge of spring. The break in the trees revealed the mountain range extending down the ridge line - one old grandfather of a mountain after another.

 

I moved past her, examining the fence. "It's sound. Sturdy for old construction." I vaulted the fence and started across the clearing towards the structure. I looked back. She hadn't moved. Her face was softer, almost gentle as she looked out at the view. "You coming?"

 

She started, her face settling back into the scowl she wore so often. "Yeah."

 

I grinned and walked back to the fence, meeting her as she approached. I leaned onto the fence. She stopped, took a step back and raised an eyebrow. I grinned, "Like what you see?" My grin widened as a blush started across her cheeks.

 

"Let's go." She scowled at me.

 

"You're allowed to enjoy." She fiercely ignored me and reached for the fence. I touched her hand, and she snatched it back, glaring at me. "When was the last time you let yourself enjoy...a view?"

 

"None of your f**king business, Crae," she snarled. There was pain in her face. Old pain. Can't hold her. Wouldn't let me.

 

"When?"

 

She frowned at me.

 

"Why the f**k does it matter to you?" she asked, half bewildered.

 

"When was it?"

 

She paused, searching my face with those suspicious red eyes, weighing the risk. I am a patient man.

 

"My father..." She stopped, looked away. I waited. "We would sit for hours and watch the sun set on the mountains."

 

"What happened to him?" I asked quietly, not wanting her to dart back to her hidey hole.

 

She sucked in a harsh breath. "He died," she finally said, her eyes still caught on the ancient gray stone, her mind very far away, "they both did."

 

My curiosity burned. My cat's past had made her who she is. I needed to know.

 

"How?"

 

"Imperial agents. On Nar Shaddaa. F**kers just couldn't let us go."

 

Who could? "Where were you going?"

 

"Republic," she said, scowling, "my...my sister was Force sensitive. My parents were taking her to the Jedi."

 

"Your parents died. Your sister?"

 

"The smuggler who was transporting us found her, took her to the Republic. She's a Knight, now," she said, pride breaking through the old hurts.

 

Satisfaction sang in my veins. A sister. A secret. "She's blood. Your family."

 

She smiled sadly. "She has her own family. Doesn't need me and my mess of a life."

 

Ah, my cat. My dear disaster. "You got left behind. Didn't make it to the Republic?"

 

"The smuggler couldn't find me. Thought I'd died in the explosion. Left with Esma."

 

"Which left you on Nar Shaddaa, alone." I pulled myself up on the fence, sitting on the top rail, watching her.

 

Skari's jaw clenched. "I grew up fast."

 

Her tone. My muscles bunched, eyes narrowed. "How fast?"

 

"Not fast enough."

 

Kitten. Can't fix it. Wish I could.

 

"There was a girl. Human. We scavenged in the same area, hid together from the bleeders and the slavers and the other monsters. Said we'd stick together, forever. Pinky swore."

 

She sucked in a shaky breath.

 

"After they..." She closed her eyes. "I hunted them down." She laughed, a harsh sound. "Didn't know what I was doing, just a skinny blue girl with a gun, had never killed before. Should have gotten killed. Almost did."

 

"What was her name?"

 

She glanced up at me, searching my face suspiciously. "Why do you care, Crae?"

 

"You cared for her."

 

She took a breath. "Londaria."

 

"Londaria," I said, committing the name to memory.

 

She stared at me, a thoughtful frown creasing her brow.

 

"Come here," I said, offering my hand.

 

She hesitated and then took a step forward, put her hand in mine. Triumph roared in my chest at the feel of her small hand, slender and strong, in mine. I pulled her up to sit next to me and let go.

 

She sat for a long time, looking out at the mountains. "They all leave," she whispered, her voice nearly lost in the wind.

 

I touched her chin, drawing her gaze. Her eyes are solid red, but her face is so expressive. So little is hidden. All the hurts and hopes and worries out there. "Not all of them," I said quietly, "Not all of them."

[iamthehoyden]

21 – Sniper Lessons

 

 

Skari leaned back on a tree and crossed her arms. Her eyes kept sliding to the lean, brown man settled on his stomach, watching the compound far below through his rifle's scope. He hadn't moved in an hour and, even so, he was distracting. Had been distracting all week.

 

In planning sessions, where she was supposed to be concentrating on how Nadras's forces were unraveling, all her attention was on a warm hand resting at the base of her spine. At dinner, where there were ongoing arguments over whether a frontal assault or infiltration would be better, her brain blanked out at his brief touch on her thigh. When she was supposed to be prepping equipment, she lost minutes remembering him stroking her cheek as she headed to bed the night before. She scowled. Her heart needed to stop pounding when he got close, and her head needed to refocus on the job at hand.

 

"Any movement?" she asked, needing something concrete to think about besides the way his hands handled the rifle. They were strong hands, calloused, wide across the palm, long fingered, but not thick. Capable. She jerked back to attention as he looked back at her and raised an eyebrow.

 

"What?" she snapped, feeling blood rushing to her cheeks.

 

He grinned and looked back through his scope. "Nadras is holing up. Fortifying the central entrance. Going to ground."

 

"The diehards still there?"

 

"Yep. Stupid or loyal. They're likely to be difficult to get through."

 

"Missiles, motherf**ker, missiles," she said with a grin.

 

He grimaced. "Take them out from here."

 

"You won't get them all," she said, "minute they start dropping, the rest of them are going to hide like f**king rats." She walked over to stand next to him, peering down at what looked like ants on the ground of the compound far below. "Could you really hit them from here?"

 

He shrugged, the movement shifting the long sleeved undershirt he wore. The day had warmed slightly, mostly dried the ground. There will still patches of snow here and there, but it was warm after the cold of the last weeks. "Thousand meters. I rarely miss till it's double that."

 

She whistled. "Sh*t, I'm lucky if I can make 500."

 

He looked up at her, his expression inscrutable, "Not that it matters, since you prefer point blank range."

 

She shrugged. "Never did much long-range. Don't know how."

 

"Come here," he said, shifting away from the rifle on its stand, making room for her. "Lay down on your stomach," he directed.

 

She frowned and then lay down where he'd been. The body heat left on the flattened dry grass warmed her.

 

"You'll need to spread your feet apart," he said, grasping her leg right above the knee and pulling her leg over. He didn't remove his hand. Skari's heart started to pound. She glanced back and him. His golden predator's eyes were narrowed, intent.

 

"Now," he said, running his hand lightly up her side to her arm, leaning over her back, shifting her elbow an inch to the right, "you want to be comfortable, rest on your bones, not your muscles. Sniping takes patience." There was something about the way he said it, Skari glanced up at him to see him running his gaze up her body.

 

"What are you up to, Crae?" she asked warily.

 

"What? Don't trust me?" he teased.

 

She snorted and looked down the sight of the rifle. He reached around her with both muscled arms, his body draped half over hers, and adjusted her grip on the gun slightly. "Your scent," he said, dipping his head into the crook of her neck and sniffing, "it keeps me awake some nights."

 

Skari's heart was pounding in her chest. "D-don't be ridiculous, Crae," she stuttered as a shudder rocked her body.

 

He brushed her neck lightly with his lips. "All woman, no chemicals, and a hint..." he sniffed again "...of durasteel. Intoxicating."

 

"You're crazy," she whispered, her body heating.

 

He lightly traced her spine from the nape of her neck down, and then further still. She froze, her heart pounding so hard she thought it would break out of her chest.

 

He grinned against her ear, "Breathe, honey."

 

She sucked in a breath and moved, letting go of the gun, twisting in his grasp. "Crae, I d-don't think..."

 

He caught her lips with his. She gasped, ready to push away, but he didn't attack, just savored, tasted. He increased the pressure and then backed off, looking at her, his arms still around her. She stared into his eyes. This close they weren't just gold, there were slices of green shot through the iris as well, and dark brown. She reached towards the burn scars on his face and then hesitated.

 

"It's okay," he said, his voice steady although she could feel his heart beating fast where he pressed against her. She touched his face, watching his intent eyes.

 

"It's okay, honey," he said again, a fierce smile in his eyes and on his lips, "I won't hurt you."

 

Skari bit her lip and then sucked in a shuddering breath. "F**k it," she said and leaned into him, meeting his lips with hers.

 

Author's Note:

For the record, one of my favorite scenes

 

[MilaniGrey]

Dear lord, *fans self* I love those two!

[iamthehoyden]

Dear lord, *fans self* I love those two!

I knew I forgot something! Should have handed out fans before that post!

 

***

22 – Cross Purposes

 

 

Nadras had all but lost his army, his accounts were cleared out, his escape routes blocked. It was time to strike.

 

Skari picked up the flimsy sitting on top of the console. A young man, skinny, big ears, freckles, but the set of his chin and the slant of his eyes marked him as related to their resident tracker. Last one on her list. Regret was a terrible thing. Skari shook her head, putting the flimsy back on the pile. She'd been so f**king stupid, so blind to what she was doing. Justified ruthlessness with easy words that didn't stand up to serious examination. It wasn't enough, but she'd make it as right as she could.

 

"Hey, ran the last set of names," Gault said, walking in and dropping a datapad in her lap, "they all cleared the system except these fourteen. You okay?" He frowned.

 

"I'm fine," she said, looking over the names as she set the flimsy down.

 

"You sure? Has he been bothering you? I can still have him taken out, won't be a problem."

 

She laughed, not looking up. "No. Let's not."

 

She could feel Gault's eyes on her, his gaze narrow and suspicious. "Something going on with him?"

 

"What? No!" She swallowed and grimaced, peering up at him. "Maybe?"

 

The Devaronian groaned. "Bad idea, Magrave, bad idea."

 

She sighed. "Probably. But maybe this will work."

 

Crae walked through the door and looked from Skari to Gault, his gaze steady and intense. Skari shifted a little. Maybe it would work.

 

Crae leaned over and picked up the flimsy at her console. He looked at his brother's face.

 

"I'm sorry." It wasn't enough, but she had to say it, even given the Devaronian death glare she was getting from Gault.

 

He smiled slightly, "He would have liked you."

 

Her eyes stung, tears forming in the corners. She wiped them away quickly. She met Crae's golden eyes and was struck by the understanding in them. He'd been...wonderful. And maybe, once this was done, maybe he'd want to stay. He kept talking about the future, about 'we.' She sucked in a breath at the thought. It was almost too much to hope for - a guy who wasn't scared of her, of what she did. Sure, he was still weird. Had been talking about raptors and building nests the night before, but that was Crae. He still startled her, unsettled her, but mostly he made her happy.

 

Mako, followed by Torian and Blizz, filed in. Mako plopped down into the seat next to Skari. "So, oh mighty strategist," she said to Crae, "what's the plan?"

 

He took a deep breath, his eyes becoming cold, as though he were going into battle. Skari frowned a bit as he pulled out his knife, shifting it back and forth in his hands as he did when he was thinking. "Caution," he said.

 

Skari raised an eyebrow. He looked tense, his eyes on her, not nearly as smooth and cool as usual, as he flipping his knife end over end. "Caution?" The plan was sound. They'd been over it time and again, they'd checked everything. She frowned at him.

 

"Things could go badly, someone should stay behind, in case." Flip. Flip.

 

"You think we missed something?" Skari asked, looking over the mountains of data they'd accumulated over the past weeks.

 

"No," he said slowly, "I just don't want you taking the risk. I think it would be better if Torian took point on this. You coordinate from here."

 

Skari started laughing. "Sh*t, for a second I thought you were serious."

 

He glared at her. "I am serious."

 

She waved her hand in disgust. "It's a dozen f**king guards! I could take out that many in my sleep! We take a couple missile launchers, a pile of grenades, strap on the beskar and walk through the front door."

 

Crae stabbed a finger at the front entrance. "It's stupid to walk in. You'll be exposed, vulnerable. I'll sneak in and kill him, Torian and Mako can keep the guards busy at the front."

 

Skari rolled her eyes at him. "What are you? Imperial Intelligence?"

 

He glared at her. Skari could see Gault looking from one to the other with increasing concern. Blizz was chittering nervously in the silence. Torian stood, arms crossed at the door, while Mako busied herself stacking flimsies at the console.

 

"You can forget that sh*t," she glared, standing and crossing her arms, "I'm going in."

 

"I can't convince you to do this the smart way, can I? Stubborn as a reek." Crae snapped at her.

 

She ignored him. "We go in tomorrow. Have your sh*t together, people."

 

The group dispersed. Mako and Torian left together: Mako speaking in low, tense tones; Torian not speaking. Gault frowned at Skari and Crae, but headed out, snagging a datapad as he went. Blizz patted her arm and trundled off.

 

As soon as the room was clear Crae pulled Skari to him, his grip painful on her arm. "This is dangerous, you could get hurt," he growled at her.

 

She frowned up at him. "This is what I do, Crae. There's always a chance I could get hurt."

 

He ran his fingers through her hair, pulling her to him, kissing her thoroughly, hungrily. He rested his forehead against hers. "I couldn't stand it if something happened to you," he whispered, "just stay here, let me take Nadras out."

 

She jerked back, a scowl on her face. "What kind of bullsh*t is this?" She looked up at him and then hugged his tense body close. "I'll be fine. Ok? Besides, you'll be there to watch my back."

 

He wrapped his arms around her tightly and then pulled back, looked into her eyes. "I'll keep you safe. I promise." It was a vow.

[kabeone]

Crae... so crazy *hot* but still crazy.

[MilaniGrey]

Crae... so crazy *hot* but still crazy.

 

This.

[irishfino]

Oh, stars, why is his insanity so delicious!?

 

I'm dizzy from swooning so much...

[iamthehoyden]

Unhinged, yeppers, that's our Crae.

You say that as if it's a bad thing.

Un - hinged. Yes, it's a bad thing.

But you like bad things, don't you? *evil grin*

Shut up, Crae.

[Syart]

<3 <3 <3 *breathless*

[iamthehoyden]

<3 <3 <3 *breathless*

Get some oxygen, cause here we go...

[iamthehoyden]

23 - Cages

 

 

Skari groaned and opened her eyes. Her head was fuzzy, like she'd gotten into Gault's stash. She peered around and saw force field and beyond that, the familiar walls of the ship. The cage. She was in the f**king cage.

 

She sat up slowly, pushing her hair out of her face. Where was her crew? She stilled her movements, listening for any sounds of them in the ship, but could hear nothing beyond the whir of the engine and the normal creak of metal struts.

 

She'd been changing, in her room, and then...she rubbed her face, trying to focus. The hiss of the airlock opening pulled her attention. The lean, blood-spattered, brown figure that walked through the door was all too familiar after all this time, but the look in his eyes was feral. A look she hadn't seen in a long time. He dropped a bag he'd been carrying on the floor.

 

"What is this, Crae?" she demanded in a rough voice. She struggled to get to her feet but fell, banging her head against the floor.

 

Crae rushed to the cage and lowered the force field, pulling her into his arms, checking her head. She struggled to push him away, her limbs reluctantly following her commands, her head aching. "Shhh," he said, "It's okay. You're safe."

 

"Get the f**k away from me," she snapped, pushing him away clumsily.

 

His jaw clenched. "I didn't want to restrain you, but it was the only way to keep you safe."

 

"Where the f**k is my crew?" she snarled at him, holding still, feeling weak and hating it.

 

"They're safe."

 

"Where. The F**k. Are They."

 

He frowned. "Safe."

 

"Nadras?"

 

"Dead."

 

Skari looked at Crae's stern face, all humor gone from it, nothing but grim determination, and swallowed. The dream was clearly over. "You planning to kill me?"

 

"No!" The denial burst out of him as though it were unthinkable. He reached out to touch her hair, his gaze softening. "I could never hurt you. I love you. I want you with me always. My mate."

 

"You're crazy," she whispered in horror, her volume growing louder as she spoke, "you thought I'd stay with you after this? You locked me up! Put me in a F**KING CAGE!"

 

"Skari...."

 

"Get out," she said, getting to her feet.

 

"Sweetheart..."

 

"Out." Her glare blazed.

 

He took a breath, his gaze hardening. "I didn't want to do this, but you've left me no choice." He shook his head, a sad look on his face. "I can't let you go."

 

"Like hell." She exploded. Her body wasn't one hundred percent, but it was fast recovering, and she'd always been good at fighting when her freedom depended on it.

 

Skari slammed a fist into his liver. It was an incapacitating shot normally, the type that left a man gasping for air. Her body wasn't cooperating however, and the power needed to take him down just wasn't there. He tried to grab her arms, lock her in tight. Didn't want to hurt her apparently. She bared her teeth. Too bad for him, she wasn't in the same merciful state.

 

"Skari, w-" His words were cut short by a brutal kick to his leg and then a better punch, a more powerful one, to his ribs.

 

He spun, moving out of her range, but she moved with him, her reflexes kicking in. She leapt onto his back, locking her limbs around him. Arched back and unbalanced him enough to bring him to the floor, his weight crushing her lungs for a moment. She locked a forearm across his neck, squeezing the very air out of him.

 

"Stop. Crew," he choked out. Skari paused her choke hold, letting off the pressure slightly. "Would kill the crew."

 

She rolled them, coming up on top of Crae, straddling his body, ready to elbow him across the face if he tried anything. "What the f**k are you talking about?"

 

He was breathing heavily, but his eyes were steady, as determined as she'd ever seen them. "I won't let you go," he said.

 

"You can't keep me," she snarled, "What did you mean when you said 'kill the crew'? What did you do to my people?"

 

"Monitor, on the datapad," he nodded towards the bag he'd dropped when he walked through the door.

 

She watched him sharply as she reached out and snagged the bag, pulling it over to her. The datapad was on top. She flipped it on and lost her ability to breathe.

 

He'd caged them all.

 

Four screens. Four cages in what looked like an old Imperial installation to judge by the Imperial crests on everything. Mako was crying on a makeshift bunk, her head in her hands. Torian was pacing, running a hand through his hair, punching the wall every so often in frustration. Gault was standing still, his arms crossed, head down. And Blizz, Blizz was lying on the ground, examining the forcefield generators in the floor.

 

"What is this?" she asked in disbelief.

 

"They'll be safe," he said, "they'll be safe as long as you stay with me."

 

A huge weight crushed her chest. A nightmare come to life, that's what he was. "What?"

 

He reached towards her face. She snapped her head back. "I can't lose you," he whispered. "I have to put in a code," he said, "every day. To keep food coming and their air vented. Otherwise..."

 

"They'll die," she said, the full extent of his plan sinking in. She looked at the monitors. He held their lives in his hands. She looked back at him, at the feral determination in his eyes. He'd do it. He'd kill them.

 

Despair crushed her chest, making it hard to breathe. She'd let this monster into their lives. Let him into her heart. Every part of this was her fault. It had been nothing but a dream. Fooling herself the whole time, thinking she could keep them safe. She couldn't keep anyone safe. Anyone close to her got hurt, and she should have known that by now.

 

So stupid.

 

Had let him in. Should have known. Attraction should have been enough of a warning, but no, she had to hope. Stupid hope.

 

Always the stupid with that man.

 

And the people who depended on her would pay. She'd let them down. So badly. Her shoulders slumped, and she let herself fall back, away from him, her eyes fixed dazedly on the ground.

 

"You win," she said woodenly.

 

***

 

Triumph flooded my system at her words. I would keep her safe with me. Always. I loved her so much. I stood, slowly, my ribs ached where she had tried to put her fist through my chest cavity, my eyes never leaving her. Beautiful dark hair, glowing blue skin. That fire that burned so bright. She might hate me, but she'd be safe, she'd be whole.

 

I stopped. She was still. Not the relaxed stillness of sleep or the alert stillness of a hunter - she was still the way corpses are still. With no life left in them. My heart began to pound.

 

"Skari?" I said, willing her to look at me, for those flames to be back in her eyes. She didn't move, her shoulders slumped, her back bowed.

 

"What do you want, Crae?" she asked, her voice colorless.

 

"Look at me," I said, crouching down in front of her. She paused for a moment and then lifted her head. The air in my lungs left me.

 

She was...broken.

 

Her eyes were dull, her face expressionless, as though inside she had shut down, nothing but a shell left. I stood, picked up the datapad, looked at the monitors. My triumph. All the planning, preparing, the perfect execution. I looked back at my beautiful, fiery cat, as limp as a ragdoll, her spark gone out. I had done this. Hurt her worse than a blaster bolt or vibroknife blade. My chest clenched. What was this? Pain? Sorrow? ........ Regret?

 

***

 

Skari stared off into space, her thoughts repetitive and fuzzy.

 

Crae punched in a series of numbers into the datapad and spoke: "Code 452. Loose snare." He set the datapad down next to her and walked away, staring at the stairs to the upper floor.

 

Movement on the monitors broke her out of her stupor. Doors were opening. Cautious, the crew stepped out.

 

"What are you doing?" she asked the man who stood in silence.

 

"Releasing you," he said quietly.

 

"I don't understand," Skari said cautiously, standing up.

 

Crae turned around and walked to her, lifting her chin with his hand, a sad smile on his face. "I should have known better," he whispered, his eyes molten gold, "than to try to chain a wild animal." He kissed her hard and fast, and then dropped his hand and walked to the door.

 

He was gone.

[irishfino]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[MilaniGrey]

In the feels. Right in the feels. What is it with BH fics and punches to the feels?! ALLI WILL BE HAPPY, I HAVE DECIDED.

 

just kidding.

 

..anyway.. I do wish Skari and Crae could have stayed together, but he made a mistake. A very bad mistake.

[iamthehoyden]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

No?

In the feels. Right in the feels. What is it with BH fics and punches to the feels?! ALLI WILL BE HAPPY, I HAVE DECIDED.

 

just kidding.

 

..anyway.. I do wish Skari and Crae could have stayed together, but he made a mistake. A very bad mistake.

BH does have a tendency towards tragic stuff...not quite as bad as SW, but close sometimes. More incoming!

[iamthehoyden]

24 – Natural Habitat

 

 

We're all just animals. Just an animal. A creature of hungers and fears and instincts. I focused on my prey, blocking out everything else. My prey was stalking its prey - a grubby Nikto child digging through the garbage behind a restaurant. The kill was easy. Satisfaction. One more kill for my...

 

I am just an animal. I breathe, eat, walk, kill. Sleep a little. Kill some more. An animal. Simple. Keep it simple. But I have two too few legs and not enough fur.

 

I am not made for life among the two-legged. I know them, know their ways, but I cannot live among them. Dangerous as a blinded lion, hurting those who would offer it food. Food. Was my cat hungry? Worry clawed at me all the time, unnatural thing. Was she warm? Safe? Safer without me.

 

There is little difference between night and day on Nar Shaddaa. The smog and the brightly lit buildings clog the skies, bringing dusk to midday. In the slums it is always night. The scents are rank: rotting food, unwashed bodies, chemicals, and death. The sounds are harsh - the desperate need to live against the inevitability of death. I needed more prey. Something to hunt in the darkness. Purpose. I feel the lack.

 

Slipping through the shadows was easy. The old patterns of stalk and strike were soothing. I watched from the shadows as the street children, the lost and discarded, crept out of their hidey holes, looking for food. I'd come to know them, their patterns. Vulnerable things. As near to four-legged creatures as I'd seen - their lives were survival. Food, shelter, safety. And yet, there was kindness among them on occasion. My cat had once been these children.

 

I leaned back against one of the walls covered with graffiti. Looked down at my hands. They could handle a knife, cradle a rifle, kill, hurt, but they were unsuited for care, protection, for love. A snake attempting art or a bull writing poetry would have more skill.

 

I looked back at the children, slipping around corners, darting across open spaces. Small scurrying animals avoiding the hunters stalking them. This I knew. This I was suited for. The sweaty human with the too-bright smile giving out food. I would kill him next.

 

Just an animal.

Edited January 6, 2013 by iamthehoyden

[iamthehoyden]

25 – Cutting Ties

 

 

"Blizz said you wanted to talk to me." Gault didn't go any farther than the bridge entry. Skari sat, her back to him, as she flipped through screens, making entries every now and again.

 

"I have a job I'd like you to do on Corellia. Not what we normally do, but it's a good opportunity. Right up your alley."

 

"No." He crossed his arms and waited.

 

Her shoulders stiffened, but she didn't turn around.

 

"Okay," she said slowly, tension creeping into her voice, "well, there's this other one on Quesh..."

 

"No."

 

"You sure?" she said, turning enough to smile stiffly at him, "it's the opportunity of a lifetime."

 

He scowled at her. "Maybe your little tricks work on the others. You've got Torian off playing with Mandalorians on Hoth. Blizz was chattering about some wreckage on Belsavis you wanted him to check out. Mako must be more out of it than I thought cause she actually bought your bullsh*t about meeting with some super expert slicer to share techniques. Don't think you can get rid of me so easily." He glared.

 

Skari looked back at her terminal, flipping through screens without really seeing them. "Don't know what you're talking about."

 

"Please," he scoffed, "I was jumping ship before you were born. Think I don't know a jump when I see one?"

 

Skari turned and met his eyes. Grim. Grim and sober. Those were the words he would have used to describe her in the past days since Crae had disappeared. "So?" she challenged, her chin tilting, "Maybe I'm tired of hauling this ragtag bunch of rejects around the galaxy."

 

"I'll believe you" he dared, "if you tell that to Blizz."

 

Skari winced.

 

"I'll call him up here," he said, reaching for the comm.

 

She smacked his hand away. "I can't do this!" she hissed, "Can't be responsible for you all!" She braced her hands on the console, "Almost got you all killed."

 

"First of all, don't insult me," Gault snapped. Skari raised an eyebrow. "I've been taking care of myself for a long time, don't need you to take over the job. Okay? We straight on that?"

 

A reluctant smile stretched her lips. "Okay," she said in a small voice.

 

"Second, let me clue you in, sister. Leaving people doesn't work like that. I've bailed on people. I've bailed on lots of people. But bailing on people who care about you – that’ll stick with you forever."

 

She shook her head. "It's better this way."

 

Gault sat down in the seat next to hers and propped his feet up on the console. "Think I told you this before, but you're not getting rid of me so easily. I'm not leaving, and if you hadn't tricked them with lures of wampa hunts, and prototype wreckage, and alien slicers, the others would be telling you the same thing. Can't believe Mako fell for that." The disgust in his voice was palpable.

 

Skair looked over at him and grinned a little. "I can't believe it either. I had three more jobs set up, but nope she took the first one."

 

Gault snorted, and the two of them chuckled.

 

Skari sobered and tilted her head back, looking at the ceiling. "Know what's really stupid?"

 

"Torian's obsession with food that destroys your mouth?"

 

Skari's lip quirked, but she didn't look over at him. She was quiet for a moment. "I miss him."

 

Gault sighed. "I am so not the girlfriend type."

 

She snorted.

 

"You were in love with him," he said with a shrug, "that doesn't just get shut off cause the man's a lunatic."

 

"I wasn't in love with him," she scoffed.

 

"Hah!"

 

"Whatever, a**hole."

 

He grinned and threw a crumpled up flimsy at her. "Yeah, whatever." He stood and stretched. "We good?"

 

She looked up at him, her eyes a bit more watery than normal. "We're good."

 

He nodded and walked to the door when her voice stopped him.

 

"Thanks."

 

He pointed at her. "You owe me a drink for this mess."

 

She smiled. "Yes, I do."

 

Skari was smiling to herself as she uncrumpled the flimsy that had landed in her lap. Her smile died at the sight of Crae's golden eyes, his sharp features, the slight grin on his face. She owed them all a great deal more than a drink.

[irishfino]

dun dun duuuuuunnnnnnnnn!!!

[iamthehoyden]

dun dun duuuuuunnnnnnnnn!!!

Suspense! Tension! Coming soon to a theater near...oh wait...

[iamthehoyden]

26 - Lost Creatures

 

 

I was going to have to move to new territory. My prey was becoming scarce. Worse than that, the street people were starting to recognize me, the children especially. The twi'lek with the rosy skin and tiger-striped lekku watched for me now with intelligent green eyes narrowed in suspicion. She was getting too skilled at looking into the shadows. I watched her sort through a pile of old needles and used bandages outside a street surgeon's shop, looking for unused kolto. She was fierce, for such a small thing. I'd first seen her facing down a feral akka dog, all bravado and determination. She reminded me of my cat.

 

Skari refuses to leave me. She's in the eyes of these children, in the flash of blue skin, in the scent of Rodian street food, in a thousand moments each day. It was killing me, not knowing if she was alive, healthy, happy. I could find her, watch, from a distance. And then what? Leave her? Let her risk herself over and over? I could not protect her from herself. Could not watch her destroy herself. Had to see her. The need ate at me.

 

A commotion across the street pulled my attention back. It seems the street surgeon was not picky about where he got his organs from. The vulture was lean, slightly disheveled, probably high on spice, and he had one hand firmly clamped on the girl's lekku. She was screaming and punching, but the man was pulling her into his shop quickly. A few eyes glanced, but quickly slid away. Survival meant keeping to yourself down here. Pack animals were rare. Each fed on the others, rats cannibalizing each other in a barrel.

 

I moved across the street quickly, slid through the open door. The girl was still screaming, but her cries had shifted to pain and fear more than rage. Knives are versatile. They can kill outright, torture, or disable. Slicing the tendons in the upper arms makes it difficult to escape...or maintain a grip on lekku. The girl slumped to the ground, breathing heavily, when the vulture let go with a scream. Lekku were sensitive. Vulnerable. The girl rolled over, stumbling to her feet, snatching one of the scalpels from the surgeon's grisly table, her teeth bared in a feral snarl, backed into a corner. I smiled at her. So like my cat. The vulture kicked me in the leg from where he lay on the ground bleeding and screaming. I frowned at him and crouched down, flipping my bloody knife end over end.

 

"I'm curious," I said as I watched him try to use his legs to push away from me, "why you think screaming will help you? This place often has screams coming from it, why would yours be different?"

 

The man quieted, his panicked gasps the only sound in the small space. The smell of his blood mingling with the other wretched smells.

 

"You are no different from those you carve in this place," I said with a small smile, "we're all just animals."

 

***

 

 

I felt eyes on me as I emerged from the shop cleaning my knife.

 

"Solomon?"

 

My head jerked up. The doe - Mako, my mind corrected - stood in across the street, hesitant, wary. Her eyes were red-rimmed, tired and bloodshot, her posture tense, lips pulled tight.

 

"Skari okay?" I asked before I could stop myself. I'd shoved the question out of my mind so many times and yet it came back. Was she safe? Had she finally walked into a firefight and not come back out?

 

She scrubbed at her eyes. "I don't know."

 

"What happened?" My chest was clenched tight.

 

"She's gone, Crae. Disappeared right off the grid."

 

"What happened?"

 

Mako glared at me. "Well, you see, this guy she liked went insane and tried to threaten her into staying with him."

 

Old news. Still hurt. I glared at her.

 

"And then she started not sleeping. And crying. She'd been crying, late at night."

 

My jaw clenched. Twist the knife again, little girl, twist it again.

 

"Because apparently she managed to fall in LOVE with this monster who then proceeded to betray her tru..."

 

I stepped into her, crowding her, scaring those eyes wide. "Enough," I snarled, "I know what I did. What. Happened."

 

Her eyes narrowed. "Gault said he caught her trying to dump us all, thought he'd had her sorted out, but she just waited and then poof." She took a breath, her voice shaky. "They don't know I'm here, but I can't find her. She knows enough to be able to cover her tracks. I want her back, Crae. I want my friend back." Her voice broke on a sob. "It's your fault, and you're going to find her for me."

 

I took a step back, catching sight of the small rose-colored girl slipping out the back room of the surgeon's shop, her arms loaded with supplies. Running back to her hidey hole. I looked back at Mako. Even as tears streaked her cheeks, her face had settled into a stubborn frown. "How did you find me?"

 

"Blizz had a tracking device...it doesn't matter. We need your help."

 

"Why would I help you?" I asked, flipping my knife end over end, "I could kill you now, no one would know."

 

Mako met my eyes directly. No, no longer prey, this one. "I saw the recording."

 

I looked down the street, covered in garbage, my hunting grounds. "The cameras."

 

"You love her."

 

I grimaced.

 

"You broke her. Bring her back."

 

I took a deep breath, my nostrils flaring wide, catching more than a few of the wretched scents of the street. "I don't want to cause her more pain."

 

"You cause her pain every day," she said starkly, a cruelly pleased light in her eye at my wince.

 

I thought of my cat. Alone. Without her pack. Vulnerable.

 

"There is one thing I need to do before I leave here."

[kabeone]

Skari ...

 

Mako...

 

Crae...

 

Argh! All the feels!!!!!! Man.. I thought where you left off in the other thread was kind of an ending... THIS... SO GOOD.

 

*contentnom*

[iamthehoyden]

Skari ...

 

Mako...

 

Crae...

 

Argh! All the feels!!!!!! Man.. I thought where you left off in the other thread was kind of an ending... THIS... SO GOOD.

 

*contentnom*

There were times I was tempted to leave that be the end, but I uh...well, I had to poke at them some more

[iamthehoyden]

27 - A Game of Risk

 

 

She'd forgotten how blasted hot this planet was. Surprising really, given that her memory involved a crapload of sun glare, sun burn, and sweat. Must have caused brain damage too - heat stroke or something. Skari checked the water vaporator and looked back at where the suns were dropping below the cliff face. The canyon switched from golden to shadowed brown over a few moments, the chill of the evening immediately setting in, pulling the heat out of the rocks. Vaporators working. Solar array checked. Ship hidden. Everything was in order.

 

She headed back to the abandoned bunker she'd found. The former homestead of some poor family to judge by the few remnants left by scavenging Jawas. The local sand people were a particularly nasty type of raider, leaving most of the surrounding area empty. Isolated. Perfect. She walked down into the cool embrace of the earth, sealing the reinforced blast door behind her.

 

It was silent, down here in the earth. No Jawa chittering, no arguments in some corner of the ship, no one to yell at or laugh with, no one but her. She swallowed and hardened her expression. Better this way. They'd move on. Find new teams, new friends, new family. They'd be safer, away from her. It was different, leaving people behind. Gault had been right about that. She tried not to think too hard about them explaining to Blizz that she wasn't coming back. She fished out a bottle of wine from her stash. Tried not to think. Didn't always work.

 

She was in the middle of taking a drink when she spotted the steaming cup of tea sitting at her console and froze. Turning slowly, Skari scoured the room, peering into corners, shadows, her heart pounding, her hands fingering her blasters. There, near the door to the kitchen. She snatched her blasters from their holsters and shot. Missed.

 

"Hello sweetheart."

 

"I should have known," she snarled at that rich voice, that smooth sound that still made her shiver as she walked carefully towards the kitchen, "you and your f**king cape lizards. Tracking me down, waiting till I was weak."

 

She could feel the intensity of his gaze, a hungry thing in the shadows. Movement out of the corner of her eye. She blasted at the spot. Nothing.

 

"Change your mind, Crae? Decide to kill me after all?" Her heart pounded in the silence.

 

A shot out of the shadows betrayed his location. She returned fire, grinning when she heard a grunt, and then swore as she realized she'd been hit with a dart. Numbness was setting in, making her lose her grip on her blasters, making her knees give out. Crae moved forward out of the darkness with a slight limp, grabbing her and easing her to the ground.

 

"You and your f**king tranq guns," she spat out, panicked, breathing heavily, staring up at him as he checked her over.

 

"It won't put you out," he said, brushing her hair back from her face. She flinched, the movement all she could make. He slowly pulled his hand back, a sad look on his face. "It'll numb you from neck down, no permanent damage."

 

"You'd know all about permanent damage, wouldn't you?" Her voice shook. Her mind buzzed with thoughts as she watched him bandage the graze that had caught his thigh. Was this the end? Some sort of sick finish to his vendetta? Or some bizarre bid for her affection? With him she never knew.

 

"What do you f**king want, Crae?" Skari demanded, desperately wishing that he still had no effect on her. Even in the grip of fear, her eyes slid to his broad shoulders, the lean muscles that roped his arms. She bit back tears. Would she never be free of him?

 

"For you to go back to your pack," he said calmly, "They need you."

 

"They need me?! You tracked me down, tranq'ed me...again!...to tell me my crew needs me?! Bullsh*t." She focused on calming down, thinking, trying to figure him out. "What's your game, Crae?"

 

He looked tired. "No game. Go back to your cubs. You need each other."

 

"Don't tell me what I need, you a**hole!"

 

"Look," he said, resting on his haunches next to her, "I know I hurt you..." He swallowed. "So you ran off to lick your wounds. Natural. But you need your pack. I don't see what's so difficult about this."

 

Her face tightened up, angry tears forming in her eyes. "They're better off without me. Safer. Besides, them leaving is only a matter of time! Why not sooner!?"

 

"Not everyone leaves, Skari!" He stood, running a hand over his skull in frustration.

 

"You did!" The words left her before she could call them back, and oh how she wanted them back.

 

He stumbled back a step, his typical grace lost. His beautiful golden eyes staring at her. Silence slammed between them.

 

Skari swore viciously at herself and then swore some more when she recognized the sounds that emerged in the quiet. Crae heard them too, his head cocking to the side to listen although his eyes never left hers.

 

"Let me go, Crae," she said. It was an order, not a plea. She ignored the question in his eyes, focusing on the threat outside. The sand people were a welcome interruption in some ways.

 

His jaw clenched, his hands gripping and re-gripping the tranq gun still in his hands.

 

"Crae..."

 

"It's dangerous out there," he said tensely, "you could get hurt."

 

"Those f**kers will destroy everything! I can't let them do that!"

 

His eyes were narrowed as he looked at the door, his shoulders beyond tense, every muscle tight. Then, as if he'd come to some decision, he flipped a switch on the tranq gun, pointed it at her, and fired.

 

"Sh*t! What the hell, Crae?!" Skari said in horror looking at the dart protruding from her leg.

 

He was holding out his hand when the tingles started in her toes and quickly spread to the rest of her body, allowing her to move. His face had lost any humor whatsoever. "We do this, I need you to follow my lead."

 

She glared at him, "Crae, you just broke into my home and held me captive. Again. Why the hell would I follow your lead?"

 

Crae's jaw flexed again. "I'm trying, Skari," he said between clenched teeth, "work with me."

 

She glared at him for a moment and then a large explosion above decided her. She took his hand, watching him cautiously as he pulled her to her feet. "What happened to psycho protector?"

 

He smiled, but it was pained, tense, a facsimile of the amused, confident grin he normally wore. "You are a predator. Made for fighting. I won't deny you your hunt." He turned away and grabbed his sniper rifle out of the kitchen, his leg wound apparently forgotten as he checked the knives strapped to his thighs. "You ready?"

 

She stood up straight, drawing her blasters. She nodded even as she watched him with a heavy dose of suspicion.

 

The door slid open and the sounds of chaos spilled in, no longer muffled by the earth. The two hunters fought their way out of the bunker. Sand people rushed in from the darkness, lit by blaster bolts and burning equipment. They fought side by side, moving from location to location. Defensible positions, cover. It was an odd way to fight. Safer, but odd. Skari glanced at Crae. His brows were drawn tight, every sense focused on his surroundings. The two of them fought seamlessly, aware of the other, moving in tandem across the rocks and sand. The world had narrowed to this space, to this canyon, to the blasters barking in their hands, to the rush of enemies and the flash of knives, to tracking shadowy figures in the fire-lit stones and seeing them fall.

 

Finally, it was silent. The tribal warriors who lived slipped away into the night, leaving fires in their wake. Skari was breathing heavily, looking around, watching for stragglers, feeling Crae's eyes on her. He finally took a breath and the tension in his face eased a little. He looked utterly worn.

 

"You okay?" Skari asked.

 

He was silent for a long moment, watching her face. "You wanted me to stay?"

 

She sucked in a breath. Might have known he wouldn't forget that.

 

"That would be really f**king stupid."

 

She holstered her blasters and began taking stock of the damage to the homestead, focusing on ignoring the lean brown man in the shadows with absolutely no success.

 

He frowned as he watched her move around the canyon. His eyes were bright and watchful. Skari turned her head away, uncovering the small ship she'd bought from unwilling owners, taking note of the blast marks that scarred the hull, trying to concentrate on how much she'd have to do in repairs. She felt him close behind her and turned around slowly. A meter away. He was determined, those sharp predator's eyes glittering. He took a breath and suddenly looked uncertain for the first time she could remember.

 

He swallowed. "I know what I am. What I can do. Hunt. Kill. Hurt. I'm good at those things. I understand them. The other stuff. Taking care of people, keeping them safe...I - I'm not suited for those things."

 

Skari raised an eyebrow, watching this confident man stumble over words.

 

"I hurt everyone. It's in my nature," he said, his eyes unfocused, seeing deep in memory, "Even those I love. Malek. You..." He stopped and a shadow of a grin flitted past his lips. "It's a short list." He took a step forward, reached for her and then let his hand drop. "Don't let what I did keep you from your family. You are capable of caring. Don't let that go. Please don't be alone because of me."

 

Skari took a breath. "I don't want to lose them."

 

"Then don't leave them."

 

"And if I get them hurt? Killed?"

 

He shrugged, "It's a chance, but you weren't meant to hunt solo. You're a pack animal."

 

She looked around the canyon. The vaporators, the solar array - almost everything was in flames. She took a deep breath. Some things were worth the risk. "I'll leave as soon as I get the ship repaired."

 

"You can take mine," he said, "the sooner you're back, the better."

 

She frowned at him, "What about you?"

 

"I'll stay here awhile. Do some hunting," he said with a slight twist to his lips. He looked her over once more, head to toes, as if committing her to memory. "Good-bye, my cat."

 

She frowned at him, opened her mouth and then shut it again. "Good-bye then, Crae." She hesitated and then turned and flipped the camouflage up over the tiny ship and headed for the bunker.

 

"Skari." She stopped short, the sound of her name on his lips still enough to make her shiver. "I'm sorry."

 

Skari shut her eyes. Risks. She took a breath, and turned around. And then she smiled, slightly. "You don't know a damn thing about yourself, do you?"

 

Crae started, looked at her in confusion. "What?"

 

"You think you're this stone cold killer. Some unfeeling predator out roaming the wilds."

 

"I know what I am."

 

She shook her head. "Bullsh*t. You came out here without asking anything for yourself. You let me fight, even knowing I could have gotten hurt or killed." His jaw tensed at that. "And here you are, apologizing. You care."

 

"Don't romanticize me, Skari, it won't do you any good."

 

She stalked towards him. "You really suck at showing it. Seriously, stop tranq'ing me, okay? But you do care." Fierce. Silent. The man was anything but relaxed when she got close to him. So she poked him in the chest. "Know what your problem is, Crae?"

 

His body was rigid, jaw tight.

 

"You're a f**king coward." His eyes blazed, but he didn't say a word. "A coward," she said tilting her chin up in challenge, "here you are giving me a lecture about having the stones to risk hurting the people I love, and you're scared of the same damn thing!"

 

"It's not the same," he gritted out.

 

"Bullsh*t," she spat at him, "You're so full of bullsh*t."

 

"How is it bullsh*t?!" he yelled at her, "I locked you up! Threatened to kill your crew!"

 

"You going to do that again?!" she yelled back at him, toe to toe.

 

"Hell no!" He stopped and glared at her, "Not the point!"

 

"The point," she snarled, pushing him back with a shove, "is that you won't even TRY to change. You'd rather run away than be with anyone! Than be...with me."

 

He froze. "You want me to stay?"

 

A scared, overwhelmed laugh escaped her. She threw up her hands. "I love you. Can't seem to stop. Really stupid, huh?"

 

Crae sucked in a huge shuddering breath and snatched her to him. His kiss was desperate and harsh, and she met him in kind. Lips and hands and bodies together. They were both panting when they stopped.

 

He looked down at her with a wild light in his eyes, with hope and determination. His voice was fierce. "I promise you. I will learn how to be more than a killer. I will."

 

She shook her head, putting a finger on his lips. "You are more than a killer, you f**king idiot."

 

He stared at her and then kissed her again.

 

"No more tranq guns, okay?" she said, leaning back in his arms a little.

 

He smiled slightly but nodded, "No more tranq guns."

 

"Or serums or darts or..."

 

He laughed, "I promise not to knock you out again." He sobered. "Don't like you being in danger. Never will. Don't expect me to sit back and let you walk out alone."

 

"It's a deal. I'll try to be a bit more careful, okay?"

 

He nodded, pulling her more tightly against his chest.

 

"You going to be okay with my crew?"

 

"You care about them, so I'll make sure they stay safe."

 

"No knocking them out either," she warned.

 

He laughed and kissed her again.

 

***

 

Mating habits vary. For some creatures, a single encounter will do. Two creatures come together briefly and then separate. Alone for the rest of their lives. For others, mating and death intermingle as one mate kills the other. The end and the beginning bonded together. But for some, finding a mate is a singular event, a lifelong event.

 

I held Skari in my arms, in awe.

 

An astonishing event.

 

 

 

Author's Note:

Epilogue coming

Edited January 7, 2013 by iamthehoyden

[Irrissa]

O-m-g!!!!! Love it!!!!!

[kabeone]

 

Mating habits vary. For some creatures, a single encounter will do. Two creatures come together briefly and then separate. Alone for the rest of their lives. For others, mating and death intermingle as one mate kills the other. The end and the beginning bonded together. But for some, finding a mate is a singular event, a lifelong event.

 

I held Skari in my arms, in awe.

 

An astonishing event.

 

 

Creepily, perfectly him. <3 You built such an amazing character.

[iamthehoyden]

O-m-g!!!!! Love it!!!!!

yay!

 

Creepily, perfectly him. <3 You built such an amazing character.

Thank you! I love him, as bizarre and crazy as he is. I'm glad other people have been enjoying him too.