Picking the Wrong Pocket but the Right Person (Alpha)

[Hari Rendale]

Saturdays brought out the shoppers in droves, which meant tight crowds and easy pocket picking. Unfortunately, it meant that many more voices to block out.

Still, the dirty youth wandered her way through the crowds at the Greater River City marketplace. On weekends, goods from the rest of Arcan were bought, sold and sometimes bartered for here at the widest part of the Greater River, which was about a hundred kilometers from Arcan City. The NRSF made their home in Arcan, so they occasionally visited. It was dangerous to lift goods when the NRSF was about, partially because they were very alert, and partially because they didn’t think as loudly, for the most part.

But others, such as the man that Hari had decided wasn’t alert enough, thought plenty loud. Greying around the temples and thinking about sex.

Joy... the thief thought as she sliced his rear pocket open enough to slip the wallet out unnoticed. After plucking his credits free, she replaced it and moved on.

A few successful lifts later, she purchased a sweetberry shake, and began to wander about again, searching for more easy credits. A few people stood out, and Hari mentally marked them. It looked like it was going to be a good day, but a shake should be properly enjoyed with a measure of solitude, so she made her way to the plaza, and sat down on a bench near one of the fountains.

A platinum haired teenager wandered by, dressed mostly in black.

He’s cute, Hari thought, smiling. He had a strange metal cylinder on his belt. I wonder what that is...

Without further thought, she abandoned her sweetberry shake, and pretended to bump into him absent-mindedly, snatching the lightsaber in the proccess

[Alpha]

Satine apologizes to the youth as she bumps into him, but as she turns to leave, Satine notices his belt seems lighter. Looking down to his weapons belt, the Warrior Jedi Knight sees his lightsabre missing. Cursing, Satine yells, "Hey, you!" using the Force to enhance his voice, and making sure she heard it.

Turning on his comm, Satine alerts the NR people around that if they saw a girl with the description he gave them, they were to stop her. She had his sabre.

Running through the crowd, Satine looks around for her, praying she doesn't turn on the weapon...

[Hari Rendale]

The crowd thickend as she neared the marketplace tables and the buildings behind them. Satine's feet pounded on behind her, trying to follow in her wake. After much dodging, nearly knocking people over, she was beyond the tables, and the people thinned out again. Hari reached a dead run at the corner of 2nd Commerce Center South, and grabbed the lightpost with her free hand, whipping herself around twoard the warehousing district. There was a lucky break in the speeder traffic, and the thief got through unscathed. The boot's the Jedi Knight wore were silent, until he landed right next to her as Hari turned to look behind.

She rounded the warehouse and darted into an alley.

"FRELL!" Hari yelled aloud: the dumpster that would have allowed her to get over the permacreet wall was gone. She whirrled and faced the Jedi, her fingers fumbling across the metal surface of the saber. The glowing blade came alive with a snap-hisss, and the thief panicked, jumping back and dropping it.

Hari slowly backed twoard the wall, terror alight in her blue eyes eyes.

[Alpha]

Satine automatically takes a step back as his glowing black blade springs to life out of his sabre hilt. Using the Force to recall, and turn off the sabre, Satine sighs loudly, and his free hand goes to his gunblade dagger, unsheathing it slowly.

"Now, why in the nine Hells did you steal a lightsabre?! You're not even a Force--"

Satine was about to say "sensitive", but something about the thief made him stop. He could feel something odd coming from her. Talking into his comm, he mentions that the thief is in his custody, and the NRs could stand down.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

Noticing that Hari was reluctant to answer Satine smiles, and his eyes glint in a friendly fashion.

"It's ok...I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just wondering who you are. My name's Satine Capashen, Jedi Knight."

[Hari Rendale]

Hari stumbled for a second, and nearly tripped backwards.

His mind was silent. It was so strange. Normally, peoples minds gibbered and gabbered about anything, but Satines' was silent. She stared at him intently with a mixture of curiousity and caution.

"I'm Hari." she said quietly, clearly nervous. She fumbled for her vibroblade in her pocket. The smooth rubberized handle gave her a small measure of reasurance, but the way Satine had just pulled the saber to his hand like that... the thief knew she hadn't a chance. And she couldn't hear his thoughts. That made him doubly dangerous.

"I... I normally can hear other people's minds. But I can't hear yours."

[Alpha]

Satine raises his eyebrow in surprise. First she seemed to use the Force to speed up, and now this?

"Really? Wow...seems pretty noisy to me up here..." Satine taps on his head, grinning a bit. "But your mind isn't so silent. You're confused...and scared...Now why would you be scared of little old me?"

Seeing Hari's eyes move to the lightsabre hilt, Satine coughs, and says, "Oh, yes. That...Listen, do you have anything else that is special about you? The speed being one, the mind-hearing being another."

Not a good one on picking out Force-sensitives from normal people when they weren't trained, Satine was positive that this thief was a Force-sensitive person. A powerful one, maybe, when she was trained...

[Hari Rendale]

"Speed? I just... run." This was true. Hari was very familiar with the act of running for her life, and, as a result, was also familiar with some very alternate routes through Greater River.

"I've heard of Jedi before, but you're the first I've met." She began to look him over again with renewed curiosity, but stopped. Her immediate concern was what he was going to do with her. Arcans were harsh on thieves as a rule.

"Now that you've caught me, what happens?"

[Alpha]

"Well...I'm not that eager in getting someone severley punished, considering the Arcan's policies on thieves." Seeing Hari's reaction, Satine says, "Oh yes, I know their preference for thieves' punishments, and I don't want that to happen to you, considering you were probably stealing in a hope to make ends meet. But what I will do is bring you with me to come before the council at Avlon temple. I want you tested for Force sensitivity. What do you say?"

Satine sighs as Hari doesn't seem all that happy with the idea. "Look, you won't have to live like this anymore. You would be free to make a difference in something other than someone's wallet. So, I'll ask again. What do you say?"

[Hari Rendale]

While it didn't seem like the ideal solution, it certainly was better than being turned over to the local officials. Staring hard into the dirty concrete at Alpha's boots, the thief considered her options: The Arcan athorities, a known, and completely undesireable quantity, or going with Satine, an completely unknown quantity.

She was about to throw all her trust into a total stranger. Hari took her hands free from her pockets, releasing the handle of the vibroblade knife.

"Ok. But only if you tell me why I can't hear your mind, and tell me how I can stop doing it all the time."

[Alpha]

"Ok. Form me being silent. Well, I've been trained for it. The Jedi don't normally want to let their thoughts broadcast. As for blocking it out...It requires some training...I can give it to you.|"

[Hari Rendale]

Continued <a href=http://pub56.ezboard.com/fgjofrm2.showMessage?topicID=1592.topic> Here.</a>