CONTINUED: The Rusty Hinge (Kyr)

[Ordona Vandorak]

OOC: Previously

A startling sense of recognition jolted through Ordona as the Zabrak strode in. She watched him, uncertainty raging within her. Instinct told her to disappear as quickly and quietly as possible through the back doors and leave him to his business. Another part told her to stalk him, figure out what he was doing on this tourist world, out of the usual thoroughfares for types like Kyr and Ordona. Instead, she stood and strode toward him, throwing a few credcoins on the table to cover her tab as she went.

He had just inserted the thread and needle into his own neck when Ordona reached him. Despite his size, she noted the surprising amount of dexterity he used in handling the makeshift sutures. Before he made more than one stitch, Ordona reached up a hand and placed it gently on his.

“Let me help. It’ll go faster,” she said with a nod to the rest of the room. Many of the other patrons had turned their attention to the imposing form of Kyr’amur and now the diminutive woman that had walked up to him fearlessly. Their gazes ranged from indifferent to curious to slightly more dangerous. Ordona liked their chances if it came to it, but there really wasn't a need to find out. Besides, she wasn't swaying too obviously on her feet from the ale.

[Kyramur Null]

Kyr eyed Ordona as she offered to stitch his wound. They had met but once, and it had ended quickly, and he still wasn't sure what side she was on.

But Kyr was a man that tended to give the opportunity to earn his trust.

Besides, he was sure of his prowess. He could handle himself if the need arose.

He nodded and handed her the needle. "My thanks. An unfortunate close meeting with a hunting knife. I got away. The knife's owner...decidedly did not."

[Ordona Vandorak]

Ordona took the needle and began to sew, tentatively at first, and then with greater speed and precision as he remained unflinching under her ministrations. She continued to scan the room as she stitched him up. Most of the patrons had returned to their own business, though a few cast furtive glances at the pair when they thought she wouldn’t notice.

“I would expect nothing less,” she said with a small smile. Her unease subsided some, but she still wanted to get out into open space as soon as she could. Something about the situation wasn’t sitting well with her.

“Care to take a walk with me?” Ordona asked, tying off the last stitch and stepping back to examine her work. It wasn’t perfect, but it would heal well and without scarring. She had enough training, and experience, with field medicine to be more than just passingly proficient at wound care.

[Kyramur Null]

Kyr nodded. "Yes. It's best if I don't stay in the same place for long."

Hauling himself off the bar, he threw a bit more money on the counter, then proceeded out the door with her, scanning the street as he did so.

Vendors, customers, beggars-the usual scum and villainy and nothing out of the ordinary.

But in the back of his mind, his instincts told him to stay on the alert.

As they walked, he said "So what have you been doing since our last meeting?"

[Ordona Vandorak]

It was a loaded question, though Kyr probably didn't know it. What had she been doing? Oh you know, secretly joining the Galactic Alliance. Trying to murder my brother before changing my mind on that point. The usual. She smiled slightly to herself. Less of the usual than it used to be though. They walked a few more paces as she considered her answer.

"More of the same. Debauchery. Getting captured by slavers, escaping. Dogfights. The usual." She smiled at her own inside joke. It was the truth but not all of it. More than she owed him for their brief history, but she had no reason to mistrust him. At least not yet.

"What about you?" She asked as they turned onto a less busy street. They were heading away from the seedier parts of the city toward a more tourist driven sector, and the lower flow of foot traffic marked the transitory area that was neither-or. The hairs on the back of Ordona's neck began to tingle as they continued walking.

[Kyramur Null]

She was hesitant to tell him something. But what?

Mentally, he shrugged. None of his business-she didn't owe him the truth by any stretch, but he did have to wonder-was she hiding her business out of habit, or because it was something she didn't want him to know?

He was about to speak again, when he felt the tugging of instinct on his mind again.

He bent down as if to examine a mirror in a stall, and saw him.

"Your six o'clock." He muttered to her. "Bald man in a hood. Following us."

[Ordona Vandorak]

Any reply Kyr'amur was about to give was cut short when Ordona felt him shift down. She paused, as if to wait for him to finish his window browsing. Ordona didn't tense up or make any indication to look toward the man that he had indicated. There had been too many situations like this, and Ordona was too well trained to react in that way. Instead, she reached out with the Force, feeling for the man's presence behind her. Kyr was right. While she didn't sense any immediate danger, there was the low thrum of intent from the man and a sort of indifferent hostility that Ordona had learned to recognize as a sense of "this isn't personal, but I'm going to try and kill you soon."

She smiled tightly. Something about meeting Kyr'amur Null in the vast expanse of the galaxy seemed to bring trouble with it. Frankly, she wasn't sure whether it was his fault or hers. Still, she wasn't about to let something happen while she was here. The man stopped short, casually enough and made as if to retie his boot. It wasn't as subtle as some of the more skilled tails Ordona had encountered over the years, but it was better than most. She pushed her awareness out further and felt at least one more presence with a similar intent. She couldn't pinpoint this being through the crowd, but it wasn't too far away.

"Is that one of those trick mirrors?" she asked playfully, reaching out to pick it up. She held it in front of her, as if trying to catch the light on a good angle to see herself. Instead, she used it to get a visual on the bald man behind them.

"Oh, it's not. That's a shame. We have got to find one that'll make you look more bearable," she said with a smile. The man behind them was close enough to hear and Ordona didn't want to tip him off that they'd spotted him yet. "Well, where do you want to go next?" she asked as she set the mirror down. Kyr had clearly been planet-side here longer than she had and would likely have a better idea of what kind of plan they should go with to handle the tail.

[Kyramur Null]

Kyr nodded his head towards a side street. "That heads for the city square. We can kill one in the alley, then make a break in the open space, or take our chances and try to handle however many are left."

As they walked, Kyr brushed a hand over one of the pair of blasters at his hips. Alleyway. Short-range weapons or hand-to-hand. He might be able to use his knife, or he could pin him to the wall and simply ram his horns into the man's chest.

Kyr was a man with many options when it came to killing.

[Ordona Vandorak]

Ordona followed the Zabrak. His plan was sound, for the most part. She would rather take the man alive than kill him. Dead men tell no tales, but if he were alive, they would be able to get more information out of him. Things like: Who was he working for? Why was he after them? Which one of them was he after? Kyr seemed the logical choice for the last answer, but Ordona couldn't be certain. At least not without confirming it from the bald man first.

"Let's try to take this one alive. That way we can get some info out of him," she whispered to the warrior. To match action with words, Ordona left her sabers where they were, strapped tight to her back, and instead snapped a small holdout blaster from her wrist into her hand. She flipped it to stun before letting it slide back into its holster. They turned the corner into the alley, Ordona slipping past Kyr to take a position behind the larger man. She let him take lead and would wait for him to make the first move.

[Kyramur Null]

Kyr nodded, stretching his neck to make sure the stitches would hold.

He was ready.

In the alley, the moment he broke line of sight with their tail, he moved to the side, securing himself in a small indent in the wall, counting in his head the seconds until their pursuer came around.

Right on time, he appeared, and right on cue, Kyr's arms wrapped like deadly snakes around his neck and arm.

"Struggle and I will break your arm." He whispered. "Annoy me and I will break your neck. Answer her questions and perhaps you will live."

He nodded to his companion to begin her questioning.