Ardor and Angst

[Sophii Zahra]

"Hello, Junction City!" The young Zabrak shouted under her breath as she stepped out of the spaceport and beheld the bustling evening before her. Shops, restaurants and kiosks were laid out all along the busy streets, all abuzz with hundreds of people of dozens of races. The myriad scents were overshadowed only be the uncountable sounds of machines, devices, voices and footsteps all around her.

Sophii stood still for half a minute just trying to parse the cacaphony; a still island of aqua cloth and space-black skin among a typhoon of colorful activity that seemed to border on the frantic. Finally, a feeling in her gut forced her forth into the throng. Sophii was hungry. She carefully descended the short staircase from the Spaceport entrance into the sidewalk and wove her way through a shuffling forest of brings on her way to an open air cafe across the street.

The man behind the counter- a taller Zabrak with less hair and more tattoos- took one look at Sophii and greeted her with a friendly grunt as she lowered her hood to reveal the ivory horns standing above her short, violet curls.
"What can I get you?" He asked in a lightly accented Basic.
"A fried steak sandwich and the biggest can of CafFizz you can find," the said in curt Zabraki.

The chubby man let out a single laugh and slapped the counter, then turned to the grill behind him while Sophii set her credits down on the counter. Looking around, she found a small circular table with two empty chairs and sat down to wait. She set her comm on the table and tapped around the screen to review her father's instructions for the tenth time today.

Someone would be here at sunset to take her to Koda Station, where her Jedi training could begin. She reached up and touched the corusca gem necklace under her shirt; the token that would be her ticket into the Order and someday become the heart of her lightsaber. After sixteen years of hiding from the big, bad Galaxy, Sophii was ready.

"Here ya go, Kid," the Zabraki man shattered her thoughts with a steaming hot plate and a half-liter can as red as his own skin. "Thanks," she grinned up at him as she lifted the saccharine drink to her lips.
"Your ride will be here any minute now," he winked, "Good luck out there." Without waiting for a response, he returned to his station to clean the greasy grilltop. Sophii bit into her sandwich and chewed thoughtfully as she looked up at a cloud that had turned the same dusky purple as her eyes.

She had never been more excited.

[Neive Undant]

Feriae Junction... a place Prazutis had personally never been, and upon his arrival wish he could still say the same. Nothing but a hive of scum and villainy. But, who was he to judge? A monster consumed by the dark side of the force, that's what. His thoughts trailed off on that point as he looked around the many buildings, thinking to himself. A disturbance in the force around here, potential within the force... perhaps a youngling. Perhaps a padawan. Or perhaps his senses were off, and it was but another inquisitor in training.
In any case, he needed to look into it while he was in the area. Not many times these days he would find young force users to influence, lead to the same path he followed. However, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to go down the path he was on. But, his own agenda wasn't why he came here. He had to find the source of this disturbance.
As he entered the small cafe near the spaceport, all intent was hidden behind the Iron mask and dark blue armor he wore, the metal concealing all skin from seeing the dim lights that illuminated the rooms of the restaurant. He thought to himself as he looked to the man at the counter, another zabrak. However, this one was not from Dathomir. He was of another planet, the divergence that led to the brown skinned Zabraks compared to the black and yellow or Red skinned night brothers of which he had resided for so long. He approached the counter, of course knowing the man would be of no help. He scanned the patrons in the room around him, thinking to himself as he tried to distinguish the youngling from the crowd. His back was turned to the young one, though he knew not this fact. The imperial insignias on his Pauldrons and on his upper left chest gleamed slightly in the light above, making a few people wary of the figure that now resided within the room.

[Sophii Zahra]

Sophii was sipping at her drink when where noticed a fully armored man- at least, she thought it was a man based on the suit's build- came into the cafe and stopped at the counter. A quiet tinge of fear and annoyance rushed through her mind. Some of it from within and some from the other patrons.

He was unmistakably Sith, from the Dark power blaring through his being to the Impirial crests boldly painted on his armor. He walked right up to the counter, where the barrel-chested owner was busy tapping at a datapad.
"Be right with you," he said with a casual glance at the imposing figure. Meanwhile, Sophii continued to nurse her CafFizz and tried to look at anything else while frantically wondering how much longer she had to wait for her Father's Jedi contact to show up.

Soon enough, she was gifted with what promised to be a thorough distraction for the Sith. A huge Besalisk in a dock worker's uniform stood up from his table at the clear dismay of his Cerean and Twi'lek co-workers. He lumbered up to the counter, set an empty mug down with one hand and clapped both his left hands on the dark blue shoulder-plates of the mysterious newcomer.
"Let me get another ale, Zeek, and pour one for my little friend here, too." The boisterous Besalisk turned to the Sith and grinned. "Why don't you pop that bucket off and have a drink with me and my buddies, eh?"

[Neive Undant]

Prazutis looked at the bartender only a second as he glanced around, noticing a younger figure sitting alone at a circular table. He was just about to move towards them when he felt two large hands on his shoulder. He looked at the man before him, his yellow eyes narrowing at the sight of the individual before him. As the man, so carefree, asked him to remove his helmet and drink with him, he gave a bit of a devious smile behind the iron and shook his head.
"My apologies... but I'm here on imperial business. I'll have to pass." he turned away from the man, his prosthetic right arm falling near his side, a small metal hilt hanging from his belt loop as he went to take his leave from the man, not sure if he was just the extrovert of the cycle or piss drunk. In any case, the man was of no interest to Prazutis as his eyes fell to the figure sitting alone once again.

[Sophii Zahra]

"Aww, that's too bad," said the Besalisk as he took the two full mugs he'd paid for. "Guess I'll have to drink these both meself." With that, he patted the armor again and went back to his table. His companions' faces made it clear that they certainly did not think it was too bad, but be shrugged it off and said "No rest for the wicked," before draining half a mug in one titanic gulp.

Sophii cursed herself for not taking the chance to run, but she was pretty sure that the being behind that mask would've injured someone in his persuit. The Sith had made it abundantly clear how little they cared about collateral damage in the persuit of their goals. Besides, she was supposed to meet someone here, and she had no way to know that she would get another chance. The swift arrival of her father's contact was her only hope.

Still, she rested her left hand on the disrupter pistol strapped to her thigh under her cloak, while clutching her drink in front of her chest. Her eyes were locked onto the mask as he looked at her and there was no hiding the fear in her violet eyes, as she hadn't thought to replace her hood.

Then, almost of its own accord, her foot came up and slid the other chair at the table out. Despite everything in her being shouting at her to run or shoot or do literally anything else, she had invited him to sit down.

[Neive Undant]

Prazutis looked at the figure as the chair slid in front of him, before he quickly twirled his left wrist, the chair spinning and allowing him to have a seat.
“I suppose that you know already why I’m here.” He chuckled. “Well, I won’t sugercoat things. The inquisitorious of the Empire handles force matters, and you are a force matter. Now, without any fret, I will say this but once. The inquisitors are always looking for new members, as long as they are loyal.” He hesitated for a second, feeling the fear and ire towards the empire. He only chuckled.
“Cute. You hate the Empire, don’t you?” He looked over her, before sensing the small piece of metal under the table. Setting his hand on the tabletop, the trigger for the blaster was held in place, just in case the girl got jumpy with it.
“Let me ask... who are you going to serve? The Jedi, the Pirates? Or the Alliance?” He looked into her eyes as he spoke, his golden irises almost glowing through the iron helmet.

[Sophii Zahra]

The young woman stayed still and quiet while the self-proclaimed Inquisitor spoke to her. Focusing on her breath, she calmed herself and listened. When he finished, she took another slow sip of her drink, then crumpled the empty can and set it beside her half-finished food.

"I don't hate the Empire," she said in her cool, low voice. "I don't hate anyone, even if they probably deserve it. That's how I was raised. But I am actually here to meet a Jedi. Sorry to disappoint you."

She paused a moment to look up at the dusky sky and said, "Of course, you're more than welcome to try and sell me on your recruiting pitch for the next few minutes. After all, I just turned sixteen and left my home. Who knows what path I might take?"

She was starting to calm down now, and actually thinking about what was going on. She hoped that she could hold this conversation long enough for her transport to arrive, but she had no idea what would happen then. She didn't know what this man was capable of. Come to think of it, she didn't even know who he really was.

The black-skinned Zabrak blinked and allowed herself a little smile. "But where are my manners?" She shifted forward in her seat and held out her hand cordially, palm tilted slightly up. "My name is Sophii Zahra. What is yours?"

[Neive Undant]

Prazutis only smiled at the mention of a Jedi. This far into imperial territory, it'd be a bad place for a Jedi to go. But nonetheless, he kept his peace about it... for now.
"Call me Prazutis..." He took her hand, still in the back of his mind the trigger of her blaster.
"It is... interesting, to say the least, another Force adept Zabrak. Although it's not apparent, I'm a dathomiri myself. Was raised as a nightbrother until Dathomir was destroyed." He put an elbow on the table, thinking to himself. It was odd, this girl so proudly exclaiming that she was awaiting a Jedi. But, as the Naive are so, the intelligent move to take advantage. And it was possible he could have a second Jedi kill under his belt.
"This Jedi... what do you know about him?"


Darren Malakai walked through Junction city, thinking to himself as he felt his way around using the force. A brown strip of cloth covered his eyes and his hair was matted down, slightly wet. His light Jedi armor had no insignia on it as he walked towards the cafe, pausing. There were two presences inside, one of them pure, young. The other... still fairly young, but dark, corrupt... Had to be either a Sith or an imperial inquisitor, and Malakai didn't know which was worse. He slowly walked into the cafe, looking at the auras of the two creatures in front of him. He looked to the girl, the force peacefully resonating around him as he gently set a hand on her shoulder.
"Time to go."
He left it at that, keeping his... senses... on Prazutis as he waited for the girl to make her exit.

[Kubu Midwan]

A cloaked figure kept eyes on the situation, but their presence remained hidden in the face of an imperial Inquisitor. This was the person coming to meet up with the young girl. Things had changed, they stayed at a distance, keeping an eye on them. They had sent Darren to get the girl to leave the rather tense situation. Hopefully the girl would listen and leave the Inquisitor.

[Sophii Zahra]

Sophii raised one eyebrow at the name the armor gave her. It was definitely fake, because it sounded like the kind of game a Sith would give himself. A Sith who was trying too hard, she thought. She decided then that she wouldn't even bother saying the klunky mash of syllables. He needed a nickname.

"Actually, I'm Cathar, not Dathomiri," she showed her slightly-parted teeth to "Prazutis" and gently began to squeeze the trigger on her disruptor just as she felt a hand on her shoulder. The young woman tensed for an instant before she sensed that the being who had come up behind her must be a Jedi.

With a deep breath, Sophii relaxed and stood up, letting her hand fall from the weapon under her cloak. Without looking away from the cold mask before her, she said,
"Yes, I am ready. If you will excuse me, I have a long way to go and much to do when I arrive. But I have a feeling that we will meet again, so until then, may the Force be with you."

She even went so far as to give the man a nod that might almost passed for a bow before glancing to the Jedi.
"Please, lead the way."