Wandering the Night (open)

[Shi'Rasha Akara]

CoroNet, Corellia

The Galaxy Swinger was filled up to the brim tonight. The small tavern was packed from wall to wall with patrons drinking the night away. This forced the waitresses to push and shove through the crowd just to get to any of the table, much to the enjoyment of the male patrons. Shi’Rasha Akara’s fist flew out and clobbered one of the hundreds of people who where grabbing and groping her as she pressed through them. It was bad enough that Ezekiel made them wear these skimpy outfit--saying something about it being upper-class, and then sending them out into a room full of stupid, drunk people and not expecting them to get molested, but what made it far worse was the fact that Shi’Rasha was a Trianii, a race of felinoids not often seen off their planet and, evidently, everyone wanted to touch one. “Back of jerk!” Shi’Rasha growled at a man who was grabbing at her. He quickly pulled his hand away when he saw her razor sharp teeth glittering in the neon light.

After several more minutes, and a few slashed faces; Shi’Rasha finally pulled herself out of the crowd and behind the bar, “Rough night, eh?” Ezekiel, the tavern owner, said with a lopsided grin. Shi’Rasha hissed at him and then headed through the door behind the bar that let into the back room. She sat down in a barrel and tried to brush the dirt and filth of her black fur while her tail swished through the air behind her. After her five minute break was up, She moved back out into the crowd and into the waiting hands of the drunken crazy idiots. This is going to be a long night… Shi’Rasha thought to herself as she smacked a couple of hands away from her body.

Hours Later

The crowd was gone and only a handful of customers remained inside the tavern. Shi’Rasha and the other waitresses; Amanda and Tina, two human women, sat at one of the corner tables with a bottle of strong corellian whiskey and three glass cups, “What a night…” Shi’Rasha said before downing another cup of the burning liquid. Her fur was a mess, her tail was sore from people pulling on it and stepping on it, the knuckles on her delicate little paws were heavily bruised from slugging so many people. She let out a pitiful meow and then rested her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands.

“You looked exhausted Shi, Why don’t you go home?” Tina asked, flicking a strand of golden blond hair out of her always cheerful face, “Me and Amanda can finish up here.” “Really?” Shi’rasha asked, suddenly sitting straighter, “Sure, and I owe you for covering my shift last week.” Amanda said between sips of her drink. “Thanks, girls.” She said before gracefully raising to her feet and heading to the back room. She changed into a knee length black skirt and a white shirt and threw her black trench coat over it all. She breathed a sigh of relief and she stepped out into the cool night air. She looked up at the full moon and smiled, “Freedom” She purred before walking down the sidewalk a short ways and then turning down an alley that would take her right to the street she lived on.

[Akio Miyazaki]

The night had not been exactly fruitful. Akio had thought he had been sent here to do some business with a well known Correlian gang. However, the meet had not gone quite as planned. And now, he was wandering back towards his ship to hopefully nurse his rather bruised ego.

Akio Miyazaki had not been informed about the customs of the gang he had been dealing with--he wasn't in fact sure if his gang's leader had even known--and therefore he had lost the drug trade that had been very important. And Akio had been laughed at.

Now, he was walking rather aimlessly, hoping to find someplace he could get a good strong drink, and praying he didn't get lost. He wasn't familiar with this area.

Stuffing his hands deeper into the pocket of his ripped jeans, and nudging away the corner of his black jacket he turned down a remote alley, glancing up breifly to see someone headed his way. A rather felline looking someone. A rather feline looking someone whom he was positive he had not known ever came off thier planet. He hadn't, in fact, ever seen one up close before.

If he wasn't mistaken, that someone was a Trianii.

[Shi'Rasha Akara]

Shi'Rasha moved through the dark alley, mumbling as she went. It wasn't her fault that she was a disgrace and an outcast among her people, even to her family. Her mother was one of the reigning Yu'Nar and her father a captain of the Trianii sector rangers. They had two children together. Their first born was Shi'Rasha. But instead of being the heir to her mother's position; Shi'Rasha was made an outcast because the Akara Family priest said that Shi'Rasha's black fur and silver strikes were a sign of evil and that by no means must such a creature be allowed to live. Shi'Rasha's parents didn't want to give up their only daughter even if she was a demon, she was still their daughter. But Shi'Rasha had been denied her mother's position, but her parents continued to love her. The rest of Trianii society treated her like a diseased animal and kept away from her with a passion. Then her mother had given birth to another daughter; Jezera. Shi'Rasha's parents treated their new daughter like a princess and simply forgot about Shi'Rasha completely.

She had left home and slowly made her way through the galaxy until arriving on Corellia. She sought work but only found it working for Ezekiel at his tavern.

She let out a sigh and pushed her memories away and continued to walk down the alley, until she noticed a male human entering from the opposite direction. As always, Shi'Rasha carried no weapon because her body was the only weapon she'd ever need; the Trainii where naturally strong, as well as dexterous.

As she walked she could feel her retractable claws comming out. If this male tried anything he'd get a swift kick in the nadgers and lose an eye, or two.

Shi'Rasha passed the male but felt his gaze continue to follow her. She spun around to face the male, "Why don't you take a holo?" She growled, "It'd last longer."

[Akio Miyazaki]

Akio chomped hard down on his lip, almost immediately tasting blood on his tongue. Okay, yeah, he had been staring a bit more than had probably been necessary, but really, did she have to be so violent? It wasn't like he could beat her even if he wanted to. He was a gang member sure, but was always armed with a blaster or two and rarely had to use his bodily force. If she wanted to, she could have easily taken Akio out with a look. Damn his Asian ethnicity.

Turning around and looking at her, he saw, now that he was looking at her fully and not stealing glances, that she was black with silver streaks. Akio knew enough about her race to know that that was not exactly admired among her kind. For a moment, he could do nothing but watch her watch him, and knew that she was much more frightening looking than he probably was at that particular moment.

Returning to his wits, he bowed to her slightly and looked back up at the felinoid.

"I apologize," he said, for lack of anything else to say that would sound remotely unthreatening. Then he paused. "Your kind is simply uncommon. I beleive you're the first I have ever seen. Do forgive my rudeness."

[Shi'Rasha Akara]

Her green slit eyes continued to glare into his eyes, her ears where folded back against her skull and her paws kept opening and closing, the sharp claws glinting in the poor light. Shi'Rasha despised how his eyes seemed to look over every square inch of her body. It was almost as bad as the groping hands back in the tavern, only this was far more unnerving.

Her fine whiskers twitched every now and then as she stood there, trying to think of a reason for killing the human right then and there. But she couldn't think of any reason. The male had apologized and now there was nothing she could hold against him. "Well, you should be more careful then, if I had been any other Trainii I would have bit your face off for such a look. You’re just lucky I've lived among humans for so long." She said her anger slowly vented and her voice returned to the calm purr that she normally spoke in. "Yes, my people are not often found off of Trian, if at all." She finished and then started to turn away and walk away, but stopped and turned back, "Do you want to go get a drink?" It was the last thing she wanted to do, but she felt she owed the human for blowing up on him like she did. Humans weren’t the worst kind of company, just different from what she was used to back on Trian.

[Akio Miyazaki]

Akio watched her, a little surprised by the offer. He wasn't exactly sure if he wanted to have a drink with a female who could easily rip off his arms, legs, and head without even a second thought. Then again, he feared worse if he did not accept. He drew his eyes downward to look at the ground instead, and then bowed a little.

"Yes, thank you," he said quietly. Akio straightened and stepped forward a little, extending a hand to shake her paw. "My name is Miyazaki Akio. I apologize again for such a sour meeting."

[Shi'Rasha Akara]

Shi'Rasha stepped back while looking down at the hand quizzically. She had assumed the male was reaching out to grab her, but instead had left his hand hovering in the air, as if waiting for something. Then she remembered of the strange human tradition of joining one's hands together and moving them in an up and down motion. She had no idea what this signified but it meant something to the humans. Shi'Rasha took a step forward and slowly stretched her arm out and grasp his hand with his furry paw, while being careful not to scratch him with her claws, "Shi'Rasha Akara," She said in a soft purr, "Pleased to meet you."

Her first intentions were to take the male, Akio, she corrected herself, to the Galaxy Swinger, but was thinking differently now, "I know this great place down the street. The Shwank. Its a strange place frequented mostly by non-humans, but its got great drinks at reasonable prices." She said before turning and walking down the alley without looking behind to see if Akio was following. In ten minutes the two walked in through the below the rapidly blinking lights that formed the words "Shwank!"

Inside the place the floors where a pearly white and the walls a woody brown with white topped tables and a bar looked clean enough to eat off of. Only a few patrons sat scattered around the bar. Behind the bar stood a grizzly old gotal who was wiping a glass off with a clean white rag. Shi'Rasha walked over to the bar and took a seat on the high stool, "Get me something strong that will make my head buzz and my fingers go numb," She said before removing her jacket and throwing it over the stool on her left while her drinking companion took his seat on her right, "So, what do you want?" She asked Akio as she brushed some lint off her fur.

[Akio Miyazaki]

Akio looked around his surroundings a moment, before requesting a Correlian whiskey. The place was comfortably large without being club huge. It was dim, as most bars were, the lights over the single tables around the sides dimmed to a soft glow. Akio's poor eyes--another lovely gift of his Asian heritage--had a difficult time making out any of the few people sitting around the place. He could, in fact, barely make out the woman sitting next to him. Shi'Rasha Akara, he remembered her saying.

For another moment or two, Akio considered possible escape routes. It wasn't like him to be quite this uneasy, he in fact was usually quite comfortable in unfamiliar situations. However, he was not familiar with this planet, as the times he had been here could be counted on one hand, and he certainly was not accustomed to Shi'Rasha's kind. He had never had to deal with them, only his gang leaders and a select few of his comrades had had the opportunity to do some business with one, or two of them.

Akio had studied them extensively, yes, as he had studied many peoples. Most of his gang had thought it a worthless study, as everyone knew that they rarely strayed from thier planet. However, Akio had studied them, but nothing he had studied, nothing that he had read about them, could easily prepared him for actually coming in contact with them. It was much like any other race of people, the real thing was often much different from the descriptions in books.

And in this case, Akio had met one that was considered evil in her society. And Akio figured that could not have made her a very warm someone, as, if he had been turned out of his home, he would have been quite bitter. Akio leaned back in his seat, crossing one leg over the other and brushing away some of his hair.

"You're Trianii," he said, looking up at Shi'Rasha. "As we already established, Trianii rarely leave the home planet. What brought you here?" although Akio figured he already knew the answer, it would be less awkward if they were at least talking about something.

[Shi'Rasha Akara]

The bat tender set a glass, filled with a dark fizzy liquid, down on the bar in front of Shi'Rasha; who picked it up with one of her four fingered paws. She listened to Akio's question while quietly sipping her drink. His question was quite personal and something she had only spoken of with Amanda and Tina. Now this male she hardly knew wanted to know her story. She didn't know why, but she felt like sharing it with him. "Well, it is a long story," She started, "As you can see my fur is black and when I was born our family priest proclaimed it was a sign that I am cursed, which is a total lie because many trianii have black fur. But the priest brushed off such comments and said it was the pattern of my silver stripes that indicated the curse. My parents did not want to anger whatever god it is they serve and took my birthright from me and gave it to my younger sister, Jezera. I became an outcast among my people and my family. Naturally I was quite bitter over it all and decided to leave and do something else with my life instead of rotting in some musty basement. So I slowly moved coreward. Hopping from planet to planet, stopping for near a month on each just to earn just enough credits to pay for the next trip. Eventually I made it here, to corellia. Originally I was going to travel to coruscant from here, but I took a liking to this planet and I've been here for near a year." She raised her glass to her thin pink lips and sipped the fizzy liquid. As she drank her eyebrows lowered and her face became a scowl. She lowered the glass and thumped the bar with her fist, indenting the bar top and causing nearby drinks to rattle. "Its all that bloody priest's fault," He said angrily, and then her face returned to its normal calm manner. She downed the remainder of her drink and motioned for a refill, "Credits first." The Gotal said in a monotone voice. Shi'Rasha hissed at him and then slapped a couple of credits down to pay for her and Akio's drinks. While the tender busied himself; Shi'Rasha turned to her drinking companion, "So, what’s you story then...Akio?"

[Akio Miyazaki]

Akio listened to the story and let it roll around in his mind. Of course, who would not be bitter over such a matter. It seemed to Akio, that priests were always up for no good. Or at least his experiences with the Buddhist priests near his home. And now, Shi'Rasha's story proved him at least partly right. Akio had never met a priest that he had liked.

For a moment or two after she questioned him about his own story, Akio stared down into his drink, considering it a moment. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell her, it was just that he needed to get it organized in his brain first. Looking back up at her, and taking a drink, he shrugged slightly.

"I live on Coruscant, actually, as my job is there. But I came here to do a job. But I grew up on Coruscant in the NIGHONGO District. I can't say as I had the same kind of bad time as you did, but, to each his own hard ship," he nodded to her, not wanting to delve too deeply into his past. It was behind him, and that was where he inteded for it to stay.

[Shi'Rasha Akara]

Shi'Rasha leaned sideways against the bar and listened intently to Akio's story. She could tell he didn't want to delve into his whole past, and she respected that and didn't press the matter. But she wondered what it was Akio did for a job that brought him from coruscant to corellia. She slowly tapped her chin with her finger as she thought it over for awhile and then gave up. "So, you’re from Coruscant?" She asked and leaned forward a little, "What’s it like?" She had heard many stories, fairy tales really, of what Coruscant was like. Her parents had been there but never spoke of it, but a retired Trianii Ranger that lived down the street from her home would tell her stories about his travels through the galaxy. The ranger had been Shi'Rasha's only friend while she lived on Trian, but he died right before she left Trian.

[Akio Miyazaki]

Akio smiled, leaning back and taking a drink of the liquid he had briefly swirled in his glass for a moment. He had never been asked about his home, as there were few people who had not been there to see it for themself. He considered it a moment. He doubted she would ever go to either the NIHONGO District, or his current home of the HWANG District, so his skipped them all together.

"Well," he began, looking back at her and setting his glass down. "Its one city, the whole planet, although I imagine you already knew that. As for the areas, I wouldn't say that any of it is anything totally special, although if you are looking for a criminal, or royalty, Coruscant would be where you'd find them. Personally, I was never farther up than the nicer--if you want to call them that--slums of the NIHONGO District," he paused a moment and then took another drink.

"But there are few people who can go there and not find a place somewhere. If you ever get a chance, Miss Akara, you should visit it. I am sure you would like it there. Even not so far from where I grew up, and I can forget it as if nothing ever happened there," he chuckled. Akio lifted his glass to his lips and smiled. "A fine place to forge a better life than perhaps the living one has experienced previously."

[Shi'Rasha Akara]

A better life..., Shi'Rasha thought as she started tapping her chin again, a thing she did often while thinking. It was true she had found a somewhat decent life here on Corellia, but she was searching for something more. Perhaps she could go to Coruscant and find something worth doing, or at least something better then waiting tables and getting groped. She only needed to save up a little more money and then she'd be set to go, or at least visit coruscant and see what its like. Many men had passed through the Galaxy Swinger and asked if Shi'Rasha wanted to work in their "Gentleman clubs", Shi'Rasha simply told them she wasn't a Trianii and not a Cizerack prostitute.

"Well, I think I'll have to visit Coruscant sometime in the near future. It sounds better then this old trash heap of a planet. Would you happen to have any suggestions in where I could look for decent employment?"

[Akio Miyazaki]

Akio sipped his drink thoughtfully. He could think of several places she could work, but no places she would probably want to work. Most of his contacts were gangs, theives, cheats, and liars. He doubted she would like to fall in with that crowd. Because once you were in, there was hardly any getting out.

Akio turned his thoughts to other people he knew--however few they were--and the ones that needed new employees. He looked back over at the felinoid and set his drink down, tipping one shoulder up and rolling it backwards in a half shrug, half readjusting movement.

"Well, it all depends on what kinds of things you want to do. There are many things to do, however. I doubt you'll be at a complete loss."

[Shi'Rasha Akara]

Shi'Rasha thought the question over for a moment, "Well, I'd be willing to do anything that does not require dancing on tables while wearing nothing but a handkerchief and a boot string." She said flatly, "Most of my working experiences have been in the restraint and tavern industry. I prefer not to use my body as a means of occupation, at least not unless there is no other choice." She finished and then gulped down another mouthful of alcohol.

[Akio Miyazaki]

Akio chuckled slightly. Yes, yes, the proverbial pole dancer. He was sure there would be a plenty of men who would like to see this felinoid dancing in absolutely nothing, but it amused Akio because she could take half of them out to dinner and back again and not even break a sweat.

"Well, knowing what I do, there are plenty of taverns and bars that are in need of new employees. Most of them have been overhauling anyway and want newer faces, younger, prettier. I think you'd probably get on well there actually," he said, taking one last drink and setting the glass down.

[Shi'Rasha Akara]

Well, she already had the skills in the tavern/bar department, so getting a job in that area would be best, but there was still a trace of her natural Trianii adventurism that wanted to go out and do something exciting.

"And what exactly is it you do?" Shi'Rasha asked, "If you don't mind me asking." She added and then smiled. She was interested in what it was that Akio did, obviously it was something he didn't want to bring up because he hadn't done so yet.

[Akio Miyazaki]

Akio chewed his bottom lip a little looking around him. How could he put it? He didn't exactly discuss his occupation with anyone, besides Saburo, his best friend, who had been a gang member with him once upong a time. He had not see Saburo in a year or two however, and that meant the only people he discussed his job with were those who already knew about it.

Akio took a sip of his drink and blinked once or twice, thinking for a few moments before smiling into the glass.

"Well..." he said, putting his glass down. "I work as...operations manager for a gang," he said honestly. There was nothing else to call himself. He definately didn't want to say he was a drug running, murdering, cheating, lying gang member which would technically have been closer to the truth. But as an overview, Akio figured it would work for Shi'Rasha.

[Shi'Rasha Akara]

Shi'Rasha had to stop herself from laughing. She had been expecting something bad, or embarrassing. "I've been in a few gangs during my travels. Joining the right ones helped me get my travel money a lot faster then I could waiting tables. I usually did the whole cheat, steal, and such. But sometimes they'd pay me just to wear something slinky and sit by the boss' side. It impresses the other gangs if you have an exotic species, like a trianii, in your gang." She sipped her drink and leaned against the bar. She had never been ashamed or afraid to discuss her operations within the gangs she had worked for. "I also did a little illegal cage fighting for a little extra creds."