Wishing on a Star

[Gia Van Derveld]

I stumbled out of a two bit tapcaf, and swayed momentarily before making my way to a railing. Leaning out over the rail, my eyes popped at the sight of Coruscant at night. Far as the eye could see, nothing but lights and lights... Traffic whizzed by in the air in front of me, and I jerked back, my reflexes slowed, staggering off the slight step I had been standing on.

I groaned, and leaned against a light post. How on earth did it come to this? I, Gia Thorn, held tightly to the lamp, and vomited violently on the walkway.

It had been less than a week ago...three days and seven hours and twenty-nine minutes to be precise. Jahn had hit me for the last time. What a <a href=http://www.swforums.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10835>silent night</a> that had been. After the affects of the glitterism had worn off he had come home to me...but I was not there. Would never be there again.

I had dried my tears, packed my bags, scrounged up the money I had managed to hide from him, and left him. Left him! I had left all I knew, and struck out on my own. My mother would never take me back, not after what I had done. I had run away from home, and deserved all I had gotten with Jahn. And more as well, probably.

I still had the colours of a black eye on my face, although usually I was quite pretty (Jahn had used to think so, at least) ...when I wasn't tearstained and vomiting on the side of a walkway in a huge urban area, that is. My long brown hair was swept up into a ponytail that reached below my shoulders, and my trim body was racked by spasms as I leaned over.

I had booked a ticket to Coruscant, after ruling Corellia out. There were evil forces at work there, and sometimes I wondered if I would ever see my family again. Would I ever see anyone again? I crumpled to the ground, still hugging the light post. It had taken nearly all my money just to get here...and now what was I supposed to do?

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cizerack cannot live on dewback steak alone.

Cirrseeto tossed the large red slab of raw meat back in the fridge, ears fluttering as his stomach growled. Ever since coming to Coruscant, it had been meager. Meager portions, meager quality. No live forrda. Nothing like on Carshoulis. It had been forever since he'd been home anyways. Saarrreeaa was determined to make her name abroad, so Cirrsseeto would have to get used to such things.

But processed, dead food was not one of them. He could sustain himself for a while, but eventually he caved in. It always happened. He could even see it in Saarrreeaa, although she said nothing. Cizerack were predators, and at some point, live food was in the equation. And in large quantities.

The last was three weeks ago. Some Rodian street urchin, digging through a garbage bin. Nothing to attract attention. A quick kill. A good meal. He'd had his fill, and left the body where it fell. It wasn't something to do regularly. On a non-Cizerack world, it was murder, not survival. Or at least that was what he had learned. So these things were best to be subtle.

Leaving the penthouse, the large Cizerack once again returned to his rare prowl...hoping to catch a rare treat. On the streets, a myriad of sights and smells to choose from. Sentients, non-sentients. Tall, short, thin, fat, male, female, and more species than stars in the sky. Cirrsseeto's eyes narrowed as he padded around, until one sight caught his eye.

She was a frail-looking brunette woman. Hyuu-mann by scent, doubled over and apparently sick.

Running a tongue over his teeth, Cirrsseeto approached her.

[Gia Van Derveld]

I held a cool hand to my forehead, trying to tame the beast trapped within. The bartender had cut me off, and told me to get out and clear my head. Yeah, I'll clear it. Bloody hell I will. What had I done? Leaving Jahn, my husband who loved me and supported me?

I shook my head, and groaned as the world shifted around me. Loving husband? Gia, remember how many times he hit you. He doesn't love you. Probably never did. I sniffed hard, and squeezed my eyes shut against the viscious glare of the lights.

Funny to think that I had never really drank before..and now that I had, I chose to spend the last money I had on the awful stuff. Opening my eyes I saw a man approaching, and cringed. Blinking again, my vision cleared somewhat, and the man transformed into a snarling beast, complete with fangs. I opened my mouth to cry out, and gagged, turning to the ground again to vomit.

The world spun around me.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirrsseeto cringed at the vomiting woman...pausing strangely until she finished her unpleasant business. Once concluded, the Cizerack simply scooped her up, tossing her over his shoulder. On a second examinating sniff, he figured her to be quite drunk. Making a face, Cirrsseeto shuffled off towards home once more. Maybe he could enjoy this one in the leisure of home.

[Gia Van Derveld]

I managed to squeak as the cat thing picked me up and slung me over his shoulder, and then the world spun crazily. I grabbed onto its jacket to keep from bouncing off into the darkness underneath me.

A tear slipped out from my swollen eye, and then I quietly started to sob as the creature carried me to gods knew where.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirrsseeto slipped into the back entrance, making his way to the turbolift that would take him to the penthouse level. The workers of the Sector Rangers building had long-since stopped questioning some of the eccentric happenings of its three local executive members. Grinning sheepishly, Cirrsseeto opened the lift door, walking inside with the young woman still slung over his shoulder. A few minutes later, the lift arrived at the penthouse level, and Cirrsseeto entered the dwelling. Padding into the dining area, he unceremoniously dumped the woman on the floor.

[Gia Van Derveld]

After the horrible ride up the elevator, I was sure I was higher up than I'd ever been in my life. And after all that vomiting, I felt a little less drunk. A little.

The cat-man dropped me to the floor, where I curled up in a small ball of misery, inching towards the couch. Or whatever it was. From the floor I couldn't tell. I grabbed ahold of the synthetic wood leg of the furniture, and tightened my hand around it. With all of my memories, I could not recall anything like this happening to me.

I heard the thing leave the room momentarily, and I pushed and pulled my resisting body into a semi upright position. I regretted my move immediately. Nausea hit me like...like a glit biter late for a date with his drug. The room spun, and I groaned, leaning against the chair as I sat on the floor, my head on the edge of the cushion.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirrsseeto slid her backwards until she lay on the floor. Crouching down, he raised and tilted her chin back, exposing her neck and the vital arteries and airways that could be severed to quickly kill. With his mouth watering slightly, the Cizerack leaned down...

[Gia Van Derveld]

I felt myself sliding towards the floor, and I did not resist, almost thinking that I moved on my own accord. When my chin was touched by a hairy hand, I looked upwards, eyes bleary, and screamed bloody murder.

A hand clamped over my mouth, and a furry face drew near, saliva dripping on my neck. I flailed helplessly and struck the creature on the nose with the back of my wrist.

[Sanis Prent]

(It was hot...hot like a wool glove, tightening around me from everywhere. Summer nights on Coruscant were a stale swelter, a thick and languid soup of greenhouse heat leftover from a reddish sunset, that didn't go away until you were too exhausted to feel it, and woke up the next day. I tossed and turned in bed, and after a while, the sheen of sweat glistening on my chest like dewdrops was enough for me to sit up. Sliding on a robe, I shuffled into the living area half-asleep. Cizeracks be damned, I was gonna bump the climate control down. If they didn't like it...too damn bad.

It was about then that I heard a scream. Of course, the things I heard in the suite were all mixed together, and in the jumble of action between my other two suitemates, I didn't pay much attention.

Except that this wasn't anything inviting. A woman's scream, and not in a good way. There wasn't any feline twang to indicate it was Saarrreeaa, either. Cursing, I ran into the kitchen, and bumped into the damn weirdest thing I'd seen in a good few months)

What in the hell are you doing?

[Gia Van Derveld]

The cat-man recoiled from me as a loud voice broke into the haze surrounding me. Taking the chance, I scrambled to my feet, and immediately tripped over the chair, tumbling to the ground again.

I heard a sound, and realized I was sobbing in fear. I grabbed the nearest thing to pull myself up with, and nearly brought a lamp down on my head. Fumbling, I managed to get to my feet, and stood with my back to the wall, hands spread against it for support as the room swayed.

Or perhaps I was the one swaying. Everything around me was jumbled and confused.

[Saarrreeaa Meorrrei]

Prent was yelling again. Saarrreeaa dropped her datapads on her desk, and got to her feet, her suit crinkled from where she had been sitting for so long. Sniffing, she found that Cirrsseetto had returned home.

And Sanis was shouting at him.

Her fur bristled, and she stormed out of her room, arriving in the shared dining area ready to rip Sanis a- She stopped and took a deep breath, shouting over Prent who was already quite loud.

"What on the fourrr moonsss of Arrrcan jisss gojing on jin herrre? And," she pointed a clawed finger towards the terrified girl in the corner furthest from the door, "who the frrrell jis that?"

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirrsseeto opened his mouth to explain, but suddenly the sound of his stomach growling rumbled forth, audible enough to explain to all around the situation. Cirrsseeto glanced about...a sheepish look on his face.

...djinnerrr?

[Gia Van Derveld]

I dropped to the floor, although later I couldn't tell you if it had been purposeful or accidental, and covered my ears to the noise. My head hurt, and there was a scrape on the side of my neck from the creature, which I noticed later.

A female had entered, and was shouting with the owner of the first voice. I covered my head and sobbed, still woozy from drinking.

[Saarrreeaa Meorrrei]

She immediately rounded on Sanis, who was ready to do something drastic from the looks of his face. "Prrrent, thjisss jisss none of jyourrr concerrrn. Cjirrrrrr jisss my resssponsssjibjiljity. Ssso go back to yourrr whjissskjy and leave usss be."

The girl looked tender enough. Saa almost drooled at the sight of her sitting in the corner.

[Sanis Prent]

Strange girl comes in, beaten, drunk, and bawling her eyes out, and not my concern?

(I shrugged. In the land of the insane, it was perfectly sensible)

Sure.

(I smiled in a sarcastic and overly comedic way)

Sounds great, chief!

(Running my hands through my hair, I returned to my pragmatic senses, freaking out only somewhat)

Let me reiterate, Princess...but what the Hell is going on here???

[Saarrreeaa Meorrrei]

Saarrreeaa grabbed Cirrsseetto's arm, holding him back from the girl. Her manservant was not pleased, and either was she. But her business partner was about to blow a blood vessel in his brain, and her aunt would have her head on a platter if Sanis was harmed in any way. A quiet command to Cirr caused him to slink to her side, ears drooping while his stomach still growled.

"jI honessstljy do not know what Cjirrrrrr hasss been up to. Let me deal wjith thjisss." She pinched Cirr's ear between her thumb and index finger, and dragged him out of the room, several curses ready to roll off her tongue.

Once they were out of earshot from Sanis, she hissed, "What werrre jyou thjinkjing, brrrjingjing forrrda herrre? Djidn't jyou know that Sssanjisss would object? Fool!" Her salivary glands had been activated by the sight of the girl, and she released his ear to wipe a bit of saliva from her chin. Saa missed live meat very much, and blamed Cirr not at all for his craving. Yet, his handling of it had been oafish. She glared at him, and at the same time wanted to throw her arms around him.

He had that affect on her most of the time.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirrsseeto took on a look of frustration.

jIt would have been okajy jif not forrr Sssanjisss. He'sss verrrjy unfajirrrr. jI'm sssurrre jyou would sssharrre jif he asssked.

He then remembered the female was hyuu-mann. Suddenly, his face reflected the dawning in his head

Oh.....

hmmm....

jyeah, thatsss a prrroblem.

He absent-mindedly scratched his head.

Ssso what do we do now?

[Sanis Prent]

(Saa left, and my attention turned back to the lady. I hadn't the slightest idea who she was, other than drunk, and looked like she'd been through hell. But calling her Lush with Issues wasn't exactly the kind of emotional support a broken-down cryer needed. How the hell did these things always happen to me? I couldn't get more antics if I lived with a Kowakian Monkey-Lizard named Harpo.

I helped the woman up to her feet.)

Whoa there, looks like you've had a few. Whats your name?

[Gia Van Derveld]

A hand pulled me to my feet, and I struggled against it at first, but stopped resisting when I saw the distinctly human face above me. I managed to stop sobbing, and sniffed, holding onto the man's arm to steady me. "My name is Gia... I'm lost."

I was sobering up just enough to realize how pathetic that sounded. Tears welled up in my eyes again as I bit my lip to keep from crying. Jahn had hated to hear me cry.

[Sanis Prent]

Lost on Coruscant, huh? Its happened to all of us, at one time or another.

(I got her a tissue for her eyes. Handing it to her, I noticed that she somewhat reeked.)

There's a refresher on the second door to your right, if you want to get cleaned up?

(I smiled)

I'll get some coffee, and we can talk about how you got here.

[Gia Van Derveld]

I paused, a bit uncertain. I could hear feline voices still, yet they were not in the direction he pointed. "I ..." Sniffing hard, I suddenly let go of his arm, and stepped in the direction of the refresher. "I think ...I will." I labored over my words, and made it into the refresher, although later I couldn't remember how I got there. Spice and alchohol gave my normally perfect memory mental cottonmouth, making it hard to figure out things later.

I stepped out of the sonic shower and frowned at my clothes, seeing how dirty they were. My head ached as the toxins from the alchohol left my brain, and I finally pulled on a robe that I found hanging on the back of the door. My long hair hung damply nearly to my waist, and I hesitantly opened the door, listening carefully for the voices of the Cizerack pair.

They were no where in sight, and I padded out barefoot to the room where I had first been deposited, the smell of coffee overcoming my intense shyness.

[Sanis Prent]

(I passed her a steaming cup)

The best cup of black on the city-planet....or so my receptionist says. I'm not usually a coffee guy.

(I eyed her curiously)

And what about you?

[Gia Van Derveld]

I sat down across from him and wrapped my fingers around the cup he pushed towards me, just to give my hands something to do while my mind raced. I couldn't remember exactly how I'd gotten there, but as my body sobered up the Cizerack male came back into my mind. "I...I just came to Coruscant today...or maybe yesterday." My bottom lip trembled as I remembered what had caused me to drink myself into the gutter.

"Just down on my luck, I suppose." I fidgeted with my robe after sipping the coffee (it was good, in spite of the man's self affacing behavior). "Thank you...for..."

My voice trailed off, as I suddenly realized that I was sitting in a perfect stranger's house, practically naked, and drinking coffee in his kitchen. Jahn will - Wait. Jahn didn't matter anymore. Still... I looked at the man with sudden apprehension in my eyes.

All I knew from men was pain, and this one would be no different. Although he had stopped the Cizerack from eating me. That, at least, was something. "Thanks." I ended my trailing sentance lamely, and fidgeted again with my coffee cup.

[Saarrreeaa Meorrrei]

What do we do now? Saa sighed. "jI wjill gjive the hyuu-mann female cab farrre, and we hope that thjisss neverrr happensss agajin, that jis what we do." She shoved him down the hall, angry that he had brought forrrda into the house, and angrier that she couldn't partake of it. "jI wjill be rrrjight back."

Before she went to the kitchen, she heard the refresher start in the other room. Saa re-entered, and saw Sanis fussing with the coffee machine. With a sigh, she exited the room, heading for the bedroom, where Cirr was probably in their private kitchenette, picking apart the slab of meat she kept in the 'fridge. She didn't have the patience to deal with Sanis right now. It would have to wait.

[Sanis Prent]

Don't mention it. Just think of it as me keeping my security deposit in check.

(He smiled, drinking some coffee)

You got anywhere to go back to?

[Gia Van Derveld]

I looked down at my hands, and frowned. "I...No. I don't. I left my bags at the space dock in section 34C-8 in a locker. Third one from the bottom, five in from the right. Number 371." The coffee was sobering me up nicely, and my memory was returning.

I could see the lockers, and I saw the people around them, just as they had been when I had been there, six hours earlier. Turning my perspective around in my memory, I looked away from the lockers, and saw the shuttle leaving that had brought me in from an orbital dock. Breaking away from the memory, I looked at the man facing me. "Again...thank you for stopping the...that Cizerack." I blinked. There had been two of them. This man had stopped two Cizeracks from eating me alive.

"If there is anything I can do..." I stopped again. Frell, Gia, complete a sentance for once! "I mean to say, I told you my name, and I didn't catch yours." I hid my suddenly flushed face by sipping coffee again.

[Sanis Prent]

(I laughed, making a gesture as if to say "don't mention it")

Just a case of being in the wrong place at the right time.

(I dosed my coffee with a healthy load of sugar, and watched her hide behind her cup of joe. She looked mentally tired, and even shell-shocked a little. The booze was probably out of her system by now, so I knew it had to be frayed nerves. With all she'd been through, maybe Cizerack were the least of her concerns.)

Name's Sanis.

[Gia Van Derveld]

I bit my lip, unsure of how to relate or respond to this man. Jahn I could predict, and I usually related to all males as I did to him. Timidly, and with fear. This Sanis seemed different, and yet I didn't know him at all.

I slipped back into timidity and fear. It was safe, and familiar. "Sanis." The name was strange on my tongue, and then it flickered a memory. His face -- it matched a poster I'd seen on Corellia years ago. The Hutt Syndicate had had a reward on his head. Sanis Prent, disintegrations allowed. I shuddered involuntarily. It was the same man, I had no doubts. My memory never failed.

Although the bounty had long since expired. I put my cup down, drained of its contents. "If you could suggest...a place to stay the night..." I yawned against my will as exhaustion pulled at me.

[Sanis Prent]

Well, I got a nice one bedroom suite thats vacant down the hall. You could stay there if you want.

(I kept adding sugar and creamer. My coffee turned a nice shade of diabetic blonde)

All you gotta do is ask.

[Gia Van Derveld]

My heart sunk. He wanted to put me up nearby...even in the same building as him. He was expecting another sort of "payment" for the favor he had done me. I swallowed my pride, knowing that I was penniless...and yet something rebelled against taking his offer. A shred of dignity lived in me, even after Jahn had tried to beat it out of me.

"That is...kind, but I doubt the arrangements would work out. If, perhaps, there was another place...I mean, I don't..I can't...." I frowned a little, trying to put together my scattered thoughts. "If you want to...that is, I can't repay you. Not yet."

Sanis reached across the table, and I flinched away from him, hitting against the back of my chair in a blind panic. His hand closed around the empty coffee cup to refill it, and I tried to calm my racing heart. I had thought... My hand went to my face, unconsciously touching the mark of my fading black eye.

[Sanis Prent]

(I smiled. I figured she couldn't pay for room and board. For some reason, it didn't matter. On any other day, I would've had security escort her out, but something in me felt chivalric today. I don't think I liked the feeling though.)

I'm not hard up for it, so don't worry. Just call it a loan of a sort.

(My morbid curiosity got the best of me when she showed her black eye again. My smile faded)

Who gave you that?

[Gia Van Derveld]

I swallowed a lump in my throat as tears threatened to spill again. "My husband."

In fact, the marriage probably hadn't even been legal, now that I thought about it. A drunken priest had married us on the ship that had taken me from Correllia and my family. More worrisome at the moment was that he was now offering to put me up for no monetary cost. I had no choice but to accept. It was that, or sleep on the street. And I didn't think that the Empire looked kindly on poor homeless women. Not to mention the other inhabitants of Coruscant.

I reached for the refilled cup he extended towards me, my hands shaking. Krasst. I had often shared glitterism with Jahn in the evenings...it hadn't crossed my mind to steal any from him. A tear rolled off my nose without me noticing. I was probably as dependent on the drug as I had been on him. I sipped the coffee again.

[Sanis Prent]

(It all made sense now. How shaky she was...why she jumped back when I reached for her cup. From what pathetic little I knew of a childhood, I remembered what my mother went through when my father was still alive. Sometimes these things were as far removed from "Happily Ever After" as possible. The damn shame of things.

I gulped down a bit of my coffee.)

For what its worth, I'm sorry.

So what do you want to do?

[Gia Van Derveld]

There a little compassion in his eyes, but I didn't realize it until hours later. I thought about his question, becoming more and more uncomfortable in the robe I was sitting in, and wishing for my clothes. "I will accept your kind offer, Mr. Prent. It would appear I have no other choice."

I stirred my coffee with my pinky and stuck my finger in my mouth, an old habit I had picked up years ago.

[Sanis Prent]

(The wording of what she said was strange)

Hey, don't make it like I'm putting a gun to your head. Its just a room, no strings attached.

[Gia Van Derveld]

The way he kept insisting there were no strings attatched made me think that there must be some reason...Jahn always told me no one did anything for free. Yet, at the moment, I was too exhausted to try and figure what Sanis' angle was.

I realized that I'd used his last name, when he had only given me his first. He hadn't seemed to notice my slip up...and I preferred to keep it that way. When people found out about my memory they usually started acting really strange around me.

"I meant no offense...I'm really tired, and the room sounds wonderful." I smiled a little, too tired to put a lot behind it.