A Blissful Morning

[Yuri Thrice]

Despite being new to this place, Yuri found himself settling in nicely in Aurilia. Sure, it didn't have the urban sprawl of Coruscant. Nor did it have the choice of entertainment and cuisine, places of information and learning....well, this place, in comparison, was tiny. One could probably throw something further than the small township itself. But something about this small, foggy, sleepy place had power in it, and Yuri found himself somehow infused with the energy that it gave off.


Dressing in his modest and organized quarters, Yuri tidied up his hair. After a quick shave, Yuri walked himself out to the small courtyard, and lit up a death-stick, taking a nice long drag of the strong smoke, and blew the smoke into the air. It seemed to mingle with the mist before it dissipated.

The click of his booted heels on the walkways and the babbling of water were the only sounds that seemed to echo against the duracrete buildings, as Yuri calmly walked to the small square of the township. The small, lovely fountain made a wonderful, almost peaceful serenade of sound as Yuri sat at the edge of the fountain, enjoying his smoke, and producing his full flask of Correlian whiskey. Taking a sip, he breathed in the air. This place was so decieving. Who would've thought that this place was home to some of the most dangerous and perhaps evil people in the known galaxy. This place reeked of dark energies, yet everything was so peaceful, serene. Yuri knew it for what it was; the quiet of death. Yet it was very enjoyable, just like his smoke and drink were. He endulged himself in both once more, laying back on the rim of the fountain, running the tips of his left fingers back and forth across the water's surface, enjoying the cooling sensation across his hands. Yuri sighed contentedly, his eyes slowly closing as he basked in the morning light and quiet...

[Asherah]

The softest of growls escaped her lips into the misty air, the strange fog seeming to amplify the sound into something menacing. More threatening than originally intended anyway. She stalked forward through the village, causing several women in her path to dodge around her swiftly or be trampled by her unyielding stride. One of her arms, in note, was kept strictly straight while the fingers belonging to her other limb fumbled with the dented, loose plate of armor attached to her shoulder.

Another angry step, her power expatiated by the ire she felt, caused her foot to go ankle deep into the paved walkway. She paused, wrenched her foot free and turned her wrathful eyes upon the man slung lazily across the fountain seat before her. It was the one from before. One of the Dark Jedi who had come on account of her father.

She briefly considered walking in the opposite direction. If she chose to speak to him now, no doubt she'd tear his head clean from his shoulders with a mere word. She took some time to calm herself, to observe him. He smoked some kind of herb. The scent stifled her senses.

"Those aren't good for you.." She murmured, propping a hand upon her hip.

[Yuri Thrice]

Yuri was so busy enjoying himself that he didn't even notice the woman in armor stomp through the pavement. It wasn't until she spoke that he registered her at all. His eyes fluttered open, revealing shocking blue orbs. Upon hearing her words, he nodded.

"Yeah, I've wanted to quit for sometime, but maybe I shouldn't....I mean, they say that it weakens something, yet when I'm not smoking I still see visions....Maybe if I didn't, I'd go out of my mind...."

A puzzled look slowly came across Yuri's face as he studied hers, his fingers still swirling in the babbling water behind him. He reached his dry right hand upward, for a handshake.

"I'm Yuri Thrice."

[Asherah]

Perhaps she hadn't been expecting a response or maybe she hadn't desired one. Either way, the slew of words in Basic seemed a bit too much for an answer. It also could have been the fact that most men learned to keep their lips shut early on. This man, in opposition to protocol, seemed to always have something to say. It was refreshing and daunting at the same time.

"Yuri Thrice..." She tested the name, gazing down at his offered hand as if it were some offensive item covered in slime. After another moment or so, she extended her own hand and firmly clasped is forearm.

"Asherah Ziiv'arel." She replied quietly, giving his arm a firm squeeze before releasing it completely.

[Yuri Thrice]

Yuri began to take in the scene before him, and then noted that the ground seemed uneven, and newly broken. The break matched Asherah's footprints. Hmmm.

Smiling ear to ear, Yuri looked into the red orbs that were Asherah's eyes.

"You seem tense, Ash. Why don't you have a seat, and enjoy the morning? After all, it is a rather lovely one, this morning. So, what's troubling you? I mean, first you seem to almost stalk in, then put your foot through the pavement, then you look at my friendly gesture as if it were offensive. Are you usually this torqued, or is it something else that is bothering you?"

[Asherah]

Ash...

"I'm not tense... I'm normal..." And she wished she could have said the same for him. What male, in their right mind, went around addressing females in such a way? She almost wanted to introduce him to her mother and see if he didn't either have a colossal break down or off himself right then and there.

Approaching the fountain, she slumped down upon the rim a couple feet away from him.

"Nothing is troubling me, really. You people are just strange is all. It is difficult to abide the foreigners in my home."

[Yuri Thrice]

Yuri looked up at Asherah. He could see how it could be difficult. Seeing that this was probably the most advanced place on their planet, it wasn't hard to see just how different the culture would be. He instantly pulled himself up, to a sitting position next to Asherah, but a few feet away from her, so as not to invade her personal space.

"Yeah, I think I might understand what you mean.....Um, I hope I didn't offend by enjoying the fountain here, it just seemed that, with no one out, I could just lay back and enjoy it out here in the square. Did I do something out of protocol?"

[Asherah]

Sharp nails, dulled by the cloth of her gloves, dug into the stone fountain seat when the outsider chose to move so abruptly. Maybe she was tense? Her past experiences with offworlders had never been pleasant ones, however. She found most of them to be loud, arrogant, lacking intelligence, and undeserving of trust. They hid in their fancy ships and mocked the Dathomiri, calling them savages and ignorant primitives. Asherah could not deny that indeed some of their rituals were brutal but they were possessed of such knowledges that many others couldn't dream of fathoming them.

This was something Jeseth had witnessed. Something he knew..

"You're fine, offworlder. Just strange..."

[Yuri Thrice]

Yuri chuckled softly. He turned his head to her, his blue eyes finding hers.

"Yeah, I could see that, being that you live here....Not used to the hustle and bustle of core planet traffic and such. But how do you think I felt.....especially after that slight tussle with the rancor? I mean, they don't even have them in zoos on Coruscant....their intelligence being too high and them being too damned big.....Closest I could get to a rancor was in holo-vids, and when I find myself here, I'm attacked by one, being ridden like a mount by a woman in armor? You guys seemed very strange to me....but then again, you guys ride rancor. That takes some kind of training or something that technology and the hustle and bustle of the city life can't ever offer. How is that even remotely primitive? I mean, sure, its a creature that can be killed, but it's one roughly the size of a ship!"

Yuri was genuinely convinced of the intelligence of Dathomiri ways. They made do with what was there, with very little outer influence. That had to count for something.

[Asherah]

Once again, she was bombarded by a slew of words that were said entirely too quickly. Asherah got the basic gist of what he was getting at.

"You sure talk alot..." She remarked in a matter of fact tone, canting her head to the side and observing him quietly. After a moment, her crimson eyes trailed away and began to wander the cracks in the partially paved walkway. They were quite primitive in some aspects, she supposed. But, at the same time, they were more advanced than the other clans.

"You might try riding a Rancor, some time. I find it quite invigorating."

[Yuri Thrice]

Yuri chuckled nervously, realizing the matter-of-fact, lack of humor in her beautiful and exotic face.

"Um, thanks, but no thanks....I'll stick to what I know for now. And that's technology. Maybe some time, when you're free, you could train me...once I have the courage to do so. And I know I talk a lot. Talking is communicating, and that's what I do. At least this way, people know where I'm coming from, and where I stand."

Yuri looked around, and something caught his eye. Her armor. It was torn, the integrity breached. With one, two good solid hits, the armor would give way, and break. Broken armor was worse then no armor; broken armor led to less mobility, and to injury from the armor itself. And if someone didn't know about the armor having integrity issues, they might put trust in something that could get them killed....an all too common problem in the galaxy.

Yuri pointed to the broken portion of Asherah's armor.

"You might want to have that looked at...."

[Asherah]

Asherah turned her crimson eyes down to the loose piece of armor and pursed her lips slightly. Her fingers grazed the alloy and then jerked it off completely in a rather distasteful fashion.

"I need to work on a new design. I have a few ideas but I lack the materials I need. It is difficult to do trading when you are everyone's enemy but it is easy to raid the merchant ships that come down on occasion. I'll just have to wait." She informed him, noting that was probably the most she had ever said in a casual conversation at one time. This guy was a bad influence.

But that amused her slightly.

[Yuri Thrice]

Yuri smiled, taking her in.

"A new design, eh? Well, it just so happens that constructing things is what I do best. My specialty is in weapons primarily, but I have done some rather effective armor. Tell you what, why don't we go to the ship, you get that armor off, we do some measurements, and we bounce ideas off of each other, until we have a definite plan of what exactly you want in a suit of armor, and I'll build it for you."

Yuri had just about all the components necessary to build anything he needed. After all, anything that he no longer used got instantly scrapped and taken apart for core components in all his devices. Just about everything he had on his ship he had somehow augmented or recalibrated or somehow modified it, and beyond standard specs. He smiled his warm, award winning smile, blue eyes sparkling as much as the pool of water in the fountain they were sitting at.

"Whaddya say?"

[Asherah]

Indeed, this outsider seemed amiable enough, but Asherah still found it difficult to trust any of the words he spoke. Brutal memories of her run in with the male settlers always seemed to flit before her eyes. She was confident, however, that in the present she could not be beaten down. That didn't stop the sickening shiver from coursing down her rigid spine. Her posture was so unmercifully straight that she was forced to grit her teeth against the growing ache betwixt her shoulder blades.

"I am not so certain I would be comfortable in your..." She paused, recalling the ship he had arrived in. The hunk of modern technology begging to be explored. She looked away from him for a moment, her hands fidgetting in her lap.

"What would you demand in return for this... adjustment to my armor?"

[Yuri Thrice]

Yuri smiled. He could read her like a book. She was intrigued, either by the ship, the promise of armor, or something that he simply didn't see. His eyes lit up with the promise of the work that he was so good at.

"Oh, nothing. Consider it a pleasure to work on your armor. For starters, I'm good at tinkering, and I enjoy it. Secondly, it would give me an opportunity to learn more about yourself, Dathomir, and other things. And thirdly, we are part of a team, whether we are "Sith" or "Dark Jedi" in teachings and methods. We all are the same here; and we are all part of a whole here. That's what teamwork's all about...As for payment, perhaps some....I dunno, sword lessons? I'm a bit rusty. You know, pointy end goes in the other man...."

Yuri laughed nervously, wondering how'd she react.