Your Silver Grin (Open to everyone...DANGER)

[Diego Van Derveld]

It had been nearly an hour since Diego had left the B&G. Heading down the steps from his room, he brushed away a lock of hair that had escaped the rubber band, crossing his broad arms over his chest as he looked about. Turning his attention to some dirt under a fingernail, Diego cleaned at it with a scrutinizing eye, while his ears strained amongst the background conversation, hoping to catch the familiar voice of Terran Starek.

[imported_Terran Starek]

Terran sat patiently in his favorite corner when the man known as Diego Van Derveld entered the Bar & Grill. He was glad he had come--good to know that the message had been recieved and the offer accepted.

The crowd was exceptionally busy and loud at this time, but Terran attempted to yell to him through it. "Diego! Diego--here, in this corner," he shouted through the croud. He wondered if the warrior would even hear him.

Hoping for a response, he looked over the other, examining his appearance. The same thing caught him as had before. His eyes--blue and intense--held something more to them. He did not know what exactly it was, but he had seen it somewhere before. In Xazor! That's it! It was similar to the intensity he had seen in Xazor's own. Not identical, but similar. He wondered what this meant.

[Diego Van Derveld]

He made his way towad the man, sitting at the appointed table.

"Keep your voice down, if you want to keep it."

[Dart Swordstalker]

Looking at the two guys he orders a Beer and approach and says "Hi what are you're names? Mine is Dart Swordstalker" and drinks he's beer. After drinking he's beer, he wait that they answer his question.

[imported_Terran Starek]

Terran looked past the new one for a moment as he met eyes with Diego. He wasn't sure what was meant by his comment, but he wasn't going to test him. He didn't understand Diego's frustrations or his reasons for being so curt, but he would respect the man's space.

"My apologies, Diego. I would like to formally meet you." He extended a hand to the man and mustered a smile--though somewhat intimidated. "As you know, my name is Terran Starek. I am padawan to Verse Dawnstrider. I have studied nature and the elements, and I find you..." he paused. What did he want to say? "...intiguing. You seem like the kind of person that could share wisdom on nature and its forms."

He then turned to the other. "It is nice to meet you, Dart. My apologies if I seem focused on my other guest."

[Diego Van Derveld]

Diego declined the handshake, looking to his 'host'.

"And how is it that you know my name?"

[Dart Swordstalker]

Looking at Terran he says" No problem :) , I came here to seek the jedi ways but i didn't find a master right now so i am seeking one , i don't know if u could help me" As he sat down he talks with them.

[imported_Terran Starek]

"The people talk. You can learn so much from the crowd here." Having said that he glanced around the Bar and Grill idly. He could feel the business of the place surge as he spoke. "I didn't mean to startle you by knowing it. I have no prior knowledge of your past."

He scanned the bar and then looked over the new guest. He was definitely new here--his actions told him so. He would soon fit in well, just as Terran had and everyone else had too.

"The waiting time can be long, but don't worry--when the time is right, the Force will guide you." He spoke to Dart, with another smile for him.

[Dart Swordstalker]

"How much time you've been in here?"And he orders a orange juice to get freshned.

[Diego Van Derveld]

"What people, in particular."

Diego hadn't even acknowledged the other person's presence. His attention bore down on Terran fully.

[Dart Swordstalker]

As looking at the two he says "the two of you"drinking his juice.

[imported_Terran Starek]

"People, my friend. The air, the wind, the words that are spoken catch my ear in a fleeting rush and that is all I can remember." He felt the hostility of the man now. It seemed that he didn't want anyone knowing who he was. Terran would not push the envelope--he didn't want to lose the chance to get to know him in peace.

"I understand if you are alarmed, but I am intune with the living Force around me greatly. Sometimes...I can hear the wind talk to me. In whispers, it seems."

[Diego Van Derveld]

"Very well, then."

Diego calmed, nodding.

"Why have you called on me?"

[imported_Terran Starek]

"There is something different about you, I can tell. Excuse my curiosity, but it is prevelant in my thoughts." He searched the man's eyes.

"Your aura...it's different. It's like others I have felt...but not the same. I don't know what it is, but I cannot put my finger on it."

[Diego Van Derveld]

"For the sake of yourself, and everyone here...don't look too closely."

Diego's jawline tightened.

"You won't like what you find."

[imported_Terran Starek]

He felt himself swallow hard as the words left Diego's mouth. They were not plesant--but he did not feel threatened. He was too curious to be. He felt his next words needed to be shared between he and Diego only.

The wind only calls upon me for important reasons. What reason this is...I do not know. He paused, keeping his eye contact with Diego steady. You are...like... He thought carefully about continuing. You are like Xazor...but different. There are not many like that.

[Diego Van Derveld]

"I am nothing like that child of Gaia."

Diego shook his head.

"You have obviously been misled by someone. She is a slave to a bleeding heart. I serve no such higher power."

[imported_Terran Starek]

"I want to know more about you. If not like Xaz...you know, if not like that, then what are you?" Terran's curiosity seemed to take hold if his being and logic failed him as he spit out the words. Maybe he was being to forthcoming with his thoughts, but at this point he did not care. He thirsted to know more.

[Diego Van Derveld]

"What does it matter that you find out? I'm not some spiritual teacher like she is, and I have no help to offer."

[imported_Terran Starek]

He looked down, realizing how forthcoming he had been with his question. Perhaps, too much.

"I am just...well, I want to learn as much about this universe as I can. I want to know who you are. I want to understand."

[Diego Van Derveld]

"The only thing I can tell you is that people like you have a dangerous power, and you should spend more time developing the common sense to use caution with your magical Force."

[imported_Terran Starek]

"You may be correct. I'm sorry to have wasted your time." Terran turned back to his water, dissapointed. He wasn't sure what would come of this, but he would not push the man any further. For some reason, the Force had brought him here. It hadn't spoke to Terran, hadn't willed him to leave the message, hadn't brought Diego here for no reason. But sometimes, things worked themselves out in mysterious ways.

[Diego Van Derveld]

"I'm sorry that you've wasted your own. Goodbye."

Diego rose from his seat, turning to walk away.

[imported_Terran Starek]

So that's it, he thought. That's it. Just like that. He couldn't beloeve that was all. Diego was a tough person--much more shelled, more protected. He kept himself hidden from most. Terran didn't understand. The hard part was, he did care to know. He greatly wanted to know.

He watched Diego leave, hoping that he wouldn't go. Maybe he would have a change of heart? He didn't know the man well enough. Terran hoped so. If not, he knew what to do.

[Diego Van Derveld]

Diego left without a second thought. As he walked away, he reflected on the things that Terran knew. He acted as if they were common knowledge, when such things shouldn't be. The fact that his name now preceeded him troubled him greatly. If it were a matter of one or two people, that was something Diego could handle. People turned up dead on Coruscant all the time...and that would be the end of it. Killing Terran would apparently solve nothing, however...if what he said was true. It was a thought that vexed Diego terribly.

[imported_Terran Starek]

Terran stood up abruptly. He had no other choice. This could no longer continue.

He jogged up to meet Diego in the doorway. He had to understand. He had to make him understand! Why wouldn't he just listen? Terran decided he would give him no choice.

"Diego--" he called to the warrior. As he turned, annoyed, Terran's hand shot up to meet the other's head, his fingers pressing against his forehead. He closed his eyes and let the images flow, opening Diego's thoughts as he entered his brain.

______________

The sharp wind whipped against his all but naked body as he flew through the forest on seemingly perfect balance and speed. Terran could feel the sting of pain in his legs as his endurance wore down. He would stop in the next grove. It was like any other night for him--a good training session, getting in touch with nature. He always took a run through the woods, even though some things were dangerous in the night.

He came to the clearing and sat upon an old stump, stretching his weary legs. He smelled something musky in the air--a usual smell for the forest. A small feeling of dread entered his mind. Death. Something was dead here. It was not unusual; it was nature. Hunters killed their prey and ate--it was the circle of life. No matter, Terran would seek out the carcass.

It was a small gazelli (like a deer), laying on the forest floor. Terran smiled--it had been so full of life, he could hear. It's spirit spoke of great things. It had even survived a hunt before. But this time, however, it had falle prey. Now, its life force would be returned to the forest. The gazelli's eyes were--

His senses flared. Something stirred around him. Several blips in the Force. His eyes caught a flash of light from the bushes, a reflection...from eyes. More pairs of eyes emerged. And even more, untill 7 or eight pairs glowed in the soft moonlight. They surrounded him, glaring in his direction.

Then the eyes emerged from their perches, revealing the sleek bodies that held ownership to them. The grey and white coats of wolves could be seen. Terran froze--wolves were excellent hunters, especially in packs. He reached to his belt for his dagger just in case--it wasn't there. He never brought it on his runs.

The wolves closed in on him, coming ever closer. A few growled at him as he crouched, keeping low. They would hunt him. Kill him. He would be their next prey--he could hear their thoughts in the wind. Baring their fangs, they closed into a tight circle around the man. He knew he could not hold them all off. He looked into their eyes, trying to calm them with the Force. It would be no use--there were too many. The lfirst wolf lunged at him, jaws wide and aimed at his throat. he stepped back--into another set of jaws nipping at his ankles--as he watched the wolf snap at his neck. The jaws were closing in--

The wolf was shoved out of the way by an unknown force as Terran fell to the floor of the woods. The others backed away, whimpering followed. AS Terran could see the attacker, the wolf was on the ground--not dead, not mortally wounded, just...corrected. The one who had done the correcting stood before him. He was huge--at least twice the size of the others. His body flexed with unnatural muscular definition. But what stood out to Terran were the eyes...intense...piercing...like few he had ever seen.

The wolf--or even creature, he did not know--snarled at him, almost roaring loudly. It was a warning--time for him to go. As Terran stood and began to escape, he could feel a great imprint on the Force. It was evident it was from the creature. The eyes would haunt his mind forever...

_______________

Terran took away his hand, breathing hard. It was difficult and tiring to produce an image like that for others. However, he was also exasperated because reliving the experience always sent his heart pounding. He had seen it in his dreams, night after night, nagging at his brain. The eyes...the eyes much like Diego's...

"I'm sorry to have..." he paused for breath. "...to have done that, but I had to make you see. I live with this every night, every time the moon strikes me in the woods. Please...if you can help me...to understand..."

[Diego Van Derveld]

The first sign of something wrong was that Diego flinched. His entire musculature locked in response to Terran's invasive use of the Force.

"Hnnngh!"

As Terran's imagery passed to Diego, his skin became extremely hot to the touch, as if suddenly stricken with a massive fever. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He began to shake slightly, his eyes staring beyond Terran, unfocused and glassy.

[Maia Tharrinn]

Maia sat in the corner of the bar and grill, sipping her juice and reading. It had been a quiet pleasant day for her and her eyes dipped shut as her eyes moved slowly over the words. Laying her book down she glanced around. An unexpected shudder whipped through her body, spilled juice puddles unnoticed on the table.

There was a huge disturbance in the force. Maia's eyes darted around looking in each shadow. They stopped on a familiar figure at the doors. "Diego...." She had seen him around, had in fact met him somewhere ... her worried mind struggled to recall. His eyes were glassy. Another shudder passed through her body, something bad was about to happen...

[Zeke]

Zeke walked into the Bar and Grill, drawing his sabers from his pockets to hand them off to the guard. One look at Diego and he had them at the ready, though disengaged.

"Dude...you ok?"

[Diego Van Derveld]

Diego doubled over, shaking hands pressing against his temples.

"Unnhh!"

[Dart Swordstalker]

Looking at everyone he becomes very confused so he got up and left them in the bar & grill and says"Hope there won't be a fight"

[imported_Terran Starek]

Terran stared at Diego, who was convulsing it seemed. He didn't know what was wrong, but it looked bad. He felt something tremble around him--the Force, shaking.

"Diego...what is--" he watched as Diego's hands moved to his temples. They shook violently, as his head shook. Terran was scared--he had no clue what he had just done.

[Diego Van Derveld]

Diego's head slowly turned upwards to look at Terran. His skin tone looked flushed and waxy, and the bone structure and musculature of his face had begun to shift. His face narrowed, but his nose widened, nostrils narrowing as his brow slanted back slightly. He blinked, and his eyes faded from their cool blue to a golden color. His jawline tightened, and with a series of crunching sounds, his maxilla began to hyperextend and deform. The incisors tipped off, and his canines lengthened, angling outwards slightly.

"Aaaaggghh!!!"

He balled his fists, and suddenly relaxed his hands, as the fingers began to shorten and broaden. His fingernails began to thicken, splitting at the cuticle, which healed over nearly instantly to form a scaly sheath...

"rrrYou IDIOT!! ......RRRUN NOW!!!"

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya was walking towards the bar and grill, and getting ready to unload her weapons at the front door. She'd heard the Jedi were leaving, which was a relief, finally she'd be able to carry firearms inside again.

She began to shoulder her way past a small group at the door, and then got a good look at the people around her. What the frell?

"rrrYou IDIOT!! ......RRRUN NOW!!!" Arya's eyes widened, recognizing the gist of what was taking place, if not the species and cause of it. She instantly shoved the blond man away, sending him stumbling down the sidewalk, but then time seemed to freeze.

*flash*

She was standing...no ...floating? above a green meadow. There was a man... holding a baby. His long hair wafted in a slight breeze, and there was a fire next to them, where a woman was roasting meat on a makeshift spit. Arya turned her head and saw a pair of twins, maybe three years old, tumbling in a pile of leaves. Identical boys.

*flash*

There was a blur of images, almost to fast to comprehend. Brown fur, flashing teeth...blood. Lots of blood. Arya was standing in a vast graveyard of bones, and another corpse, still fresh, was thrown onto the pile of dead.

Arya's eyes were still open, but they refocused as the changeling brushed her with a paw. She turned to look at him, and ran into the bar. The guard drew a rail gun on her. "Halt! No weapons! Surrend- !"

She shouted, "Get out! Get out!" and then the NRSF tackled her to the ground.

[Zeke]

Zeke stood immobile, frozen with awe, fear, and disgust and Diego's transformation.

"We are in so much trouble..."

[Eris Alexiel]

Eris hadn't been paying much attention until Terran reached out and touched Diego's forehead. When the change began, her eyes widened. ::What did the idiot do? This is bad, very bad:: She thought, but didn't change for the moment since she doubted she was strong enough to handle him, she wouldn't try unless he tried to harm a human.

[Diego Van Derveld]

With two distinct jerks, Diego's shoulders drew back, and broadened, splitting his shirt down the back. Arms contorted, curling forward as his knees thinned to the point where they couldn't support his weight. With a snapping sound, they bent backwards, against the now-nonexistent kneecaps, as they formed new ankle joints on hind legs. Further up the thigh, forward bends marked new joint structures, as narrow feet slid out of shoes, preceeded by a thickening forest of dark grey fur, sheening over dark skin. Vertebrae popped as Diego's pelvis narrowed, and a whip-like tail began to extend from the base of his spine. The final, tattered remnants of clothing fell away, and the beastly Lupine growled in a bass-filled thunder,...

<img src=http://www.bama.ua.edu/~hicks020/pics/diegoch.jpg>

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya growled into the floor as the two NRSF guards mashed her face into the ground, and she could hear the changeling behind them. With her mind's eye she could still see him, some sort of four legged beast.

She herself was a shapeshifter, a race called the Shi'ido. Arya had been separated from her race for a very long time, and had only in the last year rediscovered her shifting abilities. She racked her brain, and cursed as a soldier put binders on her wrists. "Frell! Let me go! You're going to die!"

"Threats won't get you anywhere. I've seen you in here before, troublemaker." The NRSF soldier yanked her to her feet, and Arya found herself face to muzzle with the beast.

[Zeke]

Zeke ignited his glitch and Drinking Angel, not for attack, but defense. He'd find another way to get Diego back to normal...but how?

[Maia Tharrinn]

Maia back slowly into the corner, her eyes wide. She had never seen anything so horrendous. She glanced around at all the innocents, her heart beat faster. Pulling her saber from her belt she tried to clam herself. She didn't want to use the force. It seemed to upset Diego.


She ignited her saber and moved closer to Zeke. She called out to the NRSF. "Let her go, we need all the help we can get right now."

[imported_Terran Starek]

"Zeke! What the &*$% is going on!" Terran shouted at the Jedi as he got close to him. He felt for his own saber. He had no intention of using it. But, if need be, he would. He would have no choice. "What just happened? What is he? What have I done?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei had nearly fallen asleep. But Diego soon woke him up. Wei used the Force to call his sabers to him, and turned them on after switching them to the practice setting.

"I don;t know why, but I get a feeling that he won;t be in the mood to talk."

[Zeke]

"Um...he's some variant of werewolf...the actual name for him escapes me...But Force freaks him out and makes him into...that..."

He gestured with a saber toward Diego.

"Now we gotta...um...I guess we K.O. him."

[imported_Terran Starek]

"K.O. him...?? What the?? Zeke, how the hell do we pull that off!" Terran looked at the now transformed Diego. It almost seemed useless--the man was now a large, dangerous monster. How could they knock him out without hurting him? Was it possible? He looked incredibly strong.

[Ange Tot]

She HAD been going to the B&G too geta drink, but now, it wasn't that easy. There was a large wolf-man-thing in the bar, and she had well, forgotten her sabre.

"Damnit." she muttered to herself, one hand in a pocket slipping a brass knuckle on the other grabbing her silver rapier.

[rin]

The wee little Kindermor giggled with excitement as the Lupine transformed into a were-beast of monstrous proportions. Sliff huddled under a heavy oaken table as scream's and yell's filled the tavern. A patron of the bar caught a glimpse of the thief under the table and yelled for him to help in some way...Sliff's face contorted into a perturbed frown as he shot the man a middle finger in protest.

"Screw you buddy!...Can't you see you got him all pissie now...When they get all hairy like that,...it mean's there going to have lunch and stuff!..." Sliff yelled back over the commotion as terrified people ran about to and fro.

The wee little Kindermor wouldn't miss this for the world, a sudden thought crossed his little devious mind, ushering in a smile from ear to ear. Reaching into his side satchel, Sliff pulled out a small portable tri-quarter that stored holographic images in superb detail...Sliff turned up the volume and set the focus on "wide-pan" to capture all the unfolding event's. Sliff's hand's trembled, he could barely contain himself as he sat the holo-cam in position from underneath the table, an item he had borrowed a few month's back for an unwary traveler. With glee, Sliff let out a delightful laugh as it was provoked from the wicked thought he had just came up with, who would have ever thought! The Kindermor would have patted himself on the back for it, but he was too busy at the moment to do so...

"There,...Show time!...Not every day one can find good entertainment like this." Sliff mumbled to himself as he hit the record button.

[Diego Van Derveld]

The giant vornskr coiled back on its haunches, gave a low snort, and sprang forward, leaping into the air. With a swat of a wide paw, Diego batted Terran across the chest, knocking him to the floor with enough intensity to cause the Jedi's body to bounce on the floorboards. He was a lucky one...

...another Padawan rose from his seat. Diego's eyes saw his form in the stark contrast of monochrome, though his perception entailed far more than visual sight. The Padawan's scent exuded in an aura, perceived by the vornskr as a color of olfactory proportions. It trailed him like a hue of violet. Even more damning was the indescribable presence the man had in the Force. Disdainful of the mystic art as he was, Diego's kind had an inherent sense to it...an animalistic aggression that drew him upon the man's force signature like a heat seeker. As the Padawan stood, Diego trampled him over, crushing the chair in front of him with a pump of his hind legs. Diego barely paused, raking the Jedi's entrails from his abdomen in a visceral spray of crimson offal. With a vice-like bite, he nearly wrenched the poor man's head clean from his neck, severing clean his trachea, vital arteries, and esophagus, and leaving crushed segments of exposed vertebrae in his midst. Collecting his feet, Diego growled, springing towards the NRSF guards that flanked Arya. The Lupine deftly caught the nearest guard's weapon arm as he drew up for a shot, crushing it at the elbow joint. With forward momentum, Diego slid to the door, using the NRSF agent's body as a door jamb to bar the main entrance and exit. As the man wailed, Diego braced with a broad paw across the man's face, as he ripped the forearm asunder, slinging it aside with the man's sidearm still in hand.

[Zeke]

Zeke rushed at Diego, not the most brilliant idea, and with a solid punch nailed him atop the head. It didn't hurt him. But it caught his attention long enough for the rest of the patrons to go screaming out the doors.

"Bring it, dog!" he said with mock confidence.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei watched Diego lose it. He had entirely lost it. "What the frell?"

Wei leapt at Diego, bringing down his saber in a large vertical cut.

[imported_Terran Starek]

Terran's body crashed into the wall with a sickening thud. He had bounced several times, after having the monster that now was Diego gash his chest. His body was beaten and broken because of the attack. The paw was much larger than the average animal and, having great strength, Diego had given him such a hard swipe that the claws on his hand and deeply gashed Terran's chest.

A smear of blood followed the now broken Terran across the floor. In his fall down, he had destroyed several chairs and tables, some pieces dragged with him when he slid across the floor. His eyes fought to keep open as the pain was pulling him into unconscienciousness. Hot tears--the natural reaction of the eyes to shock--fell down his cheeks as he could taste blood.

He was hurt.

Bad.


...but not dead...

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya's face was grim, as blood from the NRSF soldier's arm spurted across her cheek. Without another noise, she threw herself behind the bar, scattering glasses everywhere. The wolf-like animal was tearing out another throat from the gurgling sounds, and she was still in binders. She closed her eyes, ignoring the cowering bartender, and loosened her joints.

Shi'ido were masterful shapeshifters, their bodies enclosing many strange capabilities, not the least of which was an ability to actually change their bone structure. Arya stretched her shoulders, and winced slightly as she pulled her legs through the loop made by her bound wrists. Hands now in front of her, she grabbed her rail gun and leapt up, looking for the beast.

[Diego Van Derveld]

Diego bulled his head down, thus exposing the base of his cranium and the back of his neck to Zeke's pummeling, protecting more sensitive areas forward. As Wei charged, Diego clamped his jaws across the second NRSF agent's ankle as he scrambled away. Drawing back on his haunches, the Lupine jerked the man backwards, raising his own head through the incoming path of Wei's saber. The downward strike hit home, but in an unintended mark, snapping the man's shin bones from the force of impact. Shaking the broken leg free, Diego pounced across Wei, while his weapon was close to him, and still on the rebound. Man and beast slammed to the floor, with Diego atop, pinning Wei's hand across his torso.

[rin]

Sliff rolled his little hand's together as the fight reached a fevered pitch...Jedi's and command troop's of the NRSF were falling like fly's. Blood and gore sprayed in all direction's as the Lupine swatted men like rag doll's, sending body part's spinning without their host in tact. A pool of blood washed over the floor board's of the tavern like water spilled from a large vase at Sliff's feet.

"Ewww...That's disgusting!" Sliff twisted his noise as he inched back from the crimson wash.

A rapid secession of gun fire resounded in the room as men fought to either exit the tavern or bravely confront the hairy enraged creature...From the look's of thing's, a tally at first glance, The Jedi-0 and the Lupine-3... However the Kindermor remained steady in his determined vigil...There would be bootleg copies on the marrow at every street corner...Sliff would be rich!

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya couldn't get a clear shot, and so ducked behind the bar again, a little shaken at the carnage. Her vision came back to her, of the valley of corpses.... The dark haired woman shook her head to clear it, and tried to get a better grip on her rail gun.

With the binders on it was difficult to do anything. She spied...gross....The NRSF soldier who'd had the keys was sprawled in pieces at the end of the bar. She crawled towards the body, her eyes on the binder keys dangling from what was left of his waist.

[Garmollo Apostate]

"What is going on here?"

"Who cares?"

Garmollo sat outside the Bar and Grill, lisening to the noises within.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei hit the wall and he felt the air rush out of his lungs. he caughed and spluttered, trying to keep his focus on the Force long enough to recuperate.

[Jared Mriad]

Just drinking a round of Vodka, tis all Jared was doing.

Then a big dog showed up and everything when to hell... literally. But, it looked fun! Exactly Jared's kinda game, soo irrisistable not to taunt the little doggie!

After it tore up some Jedi of course...

"But, That can wait!" He spoke, jumping up from the bar with a wild grin. A glass in one hand, and a dirty rag with god knows what kind of concotion burned into it. Presently the dog was after a guy in green who looked oreiental.

Sliding over a table to the pinned Jedi and raging dog, Jared held up the glass with a hapless grin on his face! "Hey! Doggy doggy soggy woggy! Look'e here!" The Sith taunted, waving the booze drenched cloth in the air.

With no responce, which he cared of, and the vornskr still after Wei. Jared became peeved with the lack of enjoyment and reared back before delivering a kick to the abdomen of the beast. If the steel toe of his boots didnt effect the vornskr, the metal plating would.

"C'mon Mutt! Leave the Fedi alone and play with someone yer' own size!"

[Maia Tharrinn]

Maia reeled back from the sudden eruption of violence. She gasped and gagged at the carnage and then steadied herself. Her eyes looked desperately for her friends and her padawan.

She called on the force and directed it at the huge table behind Diego. Using every ounce of strength she could muster she slung it at the back of his head. She could only hope it would do what she needed it to when it connected. The blow of the huge table hit him in the back of the head hard enough for spittle to fly from his roaring mouth and his teeth to rattle...

[Diego Van Derveld]

Between Jared's boot and Maia's thrown table, Diego was buffeted about severely...the heavy wooden table falling on top of him. For a moment, he lay on his side, then with a concerted effort from all four legs, kicked the table away. The lupine hopped to its feet, snorted, and sneezed...and looked where the table had previously been. In its place, there was a very diminuitive creature, crouching low, and holding a recording device of some kind. The color seemed to exponentially blanch from his face as he saw the light reflect in Diego's focusing eyes. Windowpanes shook with a growl...

<img src=http://www.bama.ua.edu/~hicks020/pics/diegoch9.jpg>

[Zeke]

Zeke gathered the Force and launched himself at Diego, checking the beast into the wall. He looked frantically to Sliff.

"Run!"

[Wei Wu Wei]

When Diego got hit by the table, Wei made it a point to get free.

"Get that injured man to the hostal!"

Wei set his jaw and let the Force be his guide. He would have no more foul-ups on his part. He saw Zeke slam Diego into the wall. He wouldn;t be able to hole the lupine for too teribly long. Wei got ready for when Diego broke free.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya snagged the keys and worked frantically at the binders. The key snapped off inside the lock and she sat back, sweating from stress. She stared at her hands, and her hands lengthened, then narrowed at the base of the palm...

The dark haired woman threw the binders away from her as soon as they were off, and winced as her hands began to reform into human shape. As she waited, she scrambled to the other end of the bar. There was a back door around here somewhere.

[Diego Van Derveld]

As Zeke slammed Diego into the wall, the Lupine reared up on his hind legs, and with a concerted springing effort, sent Zeke flying over the falling table he'd just cleared. Gravity righted his quadriped form back to all fours, and Diego crouched low, ready to end Zeke's fight with the coup d'etat. However, as he sprang in for the kill, he suddenly changed trajectory, catching another Padawan that had jumped into his periphery. His ignited saber was dislodged from his hands with the force of impact, clattering across the floor as he and the vornskr skidded back toward the bar with the force of impact. A scream filled the room as Diego clamped down on the man's shoulder, using his hold to drag the struggling man behind the bar. A half second later, the scream became a ripping gurgle, and sprays of red ichor danced upward, speckling the countertop. Diego's head peered cautiously over the counter to evaluate the threats, and then he dipped down again suddenly. A series of ripping sounds precipitated the Lupine's head coming back up again, wolfing down the fallen Padawan's beating heart!

<img src=http://www.bama.ua.edu/~hicks020/pics/diegoc10.jpg>

[Zeke]

Zeke sat up and watched the blood showering from behind the bar.

"Sick..."

He threw his saber at where Diego's head last was, watching as it sailed straight through the counter, blade first, coring a hole the size of a saber in the wood. Now to see if he'd hit or not...

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya grabbed a bottle from the floor, ready to knock the creature in the head with it, but then looked at the label. She popped it open and took a swig, before scrambling away from the carnage next to her. There was a flash of light and splinters, and a lightsaber burst through the bar just above her head.

She gritted her teeth and rolled to the side before the glowing blade dropped to the ground.

[Diego Van Derveld]

There was a punctuated "yelp" as Diego scrambled from behind the bar. Through his rippling fur, a contact wound could be seen, the skin and some flesh just underneath cauterized cleanly. The Lupine limped off a few tentative steps, before continuing at a full loping speed. Every turn he made, figures could be seen clearing out of his path, their monochrome forms dancing ahead of rainbow colored auras of scent and force presence...

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei was surprised. "Wow. What strength..."

Wei leapt up onto a table and waited for Diego to pass underneath before bringing down his saber to hit Diego in the head.

"One good hit on the head, and I can knock him out."

[Zeke]

Zeke leapt behind the counter, retrieving his saber and keeping his stomach in check as he beheld the remains of the man Diego had just finished with. Looking up, he spotted Arya with an open bottle.

"At least you have your priorities straight..." he said sarcastically.

[rin]

Sliff gulped as the hideous creature stole a ferocious glance in his direction. An unholy glimmer shone in them as the gold pools turned a stark umber hue. Sliff snatched the holo-cam from it's resting place as he realized in that very moment he was exposed! The table that hit the Lupine flush was the very table the Kindermor was hiding under. Hurriedly the Kender looked for an exit as the creature slowly and methodically moved towards him...Sliff was trapped!...Quickly the wee little Kindermor tucked the shinny device away in his side satchel as he stood, spreading his little arm's against the wall behind him...

"Ah...Nice wolfie...Nice boy...Umm..." Sliff juvenile word's were broken as he spied a severed arm not far from him.

"Lookie,...A nice big arm bone to eat...Go fetch it boy...You can do it... " The Kender reluctantly pointed in it's direction, the gruesome limb still twitched and convulsed, Sliff stammered the last of his word's, pressing tightly to the wall. The foul beast however did not deviate from his course...It was heading straight for Sliff!

Without warning, the table that Sliff was hiding under moment's before came hurling through the air towards him. Sliff darted to one side as the huge oaken table smashed right next to him. It was the break he needed, and he took it without any hesitation. As the Kinder ran adjacent to the Lupine, a beautiful woman slipped and fell between the Were-Beast and Sliff. Sliff took little time to notice the woman as he darted towards the open door way...

"Sorry lady...Bad day to be in a Jedi bar!..." Sliff squealed as he run as fast as his little leg's would carry him.

ooc: Re-edit :)

[Diego Van Derveld]

The crushing force hit Diego across the left side of his head, causing the Lupine to falter and stumble to the ground. With a growl, it bucked upwards in a fit of pained rage, throwing the table and Wei backwards, and causing both to topple over poor little Sliff. Diego was slow to rise off his haunches, and when he did, there was a free-bleeding gash over his eye, dripping blood generously across the ground.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya leapt to her feet, still gripping the bottle, and came around the end of the bar, completely ignoring the Jedi beside her. This shapeshifter needed to be removed. She shouted to get the creature's attention, and then slung the bottle, hitting the beast square in the nose.

She raised her rail gun, and aimed between the creature's eyes.

[Maia Tharrinn]

Maia could not believe the damage that Diego was taking. He seemed to feel very little of it. She began to worry they would lose way to many to this huge beast. Maia called to Zeke and used hand signals on what she wanted to do. She took her light saber and cut deeply into part of the bar. She needed Zekes help to cut the other side so they could have a huge piece to chuck at Diego's head. Maia just hoped it worked...

[Zeke]

Zeke cut the rest of the bar down, then with focused. With Maia's help he lifted it, and together they threw it at Diego. It hurtled at him at a fair velocity, and Zeke watched it intently.

"Hit him...hit him..." he chanted quietly.

[Diego Van Derveld]

The bottle broke across Diego's muzzle, sending glass everywhere and splashing liberal quantities of booze into the creature's open wounds. It yelped, sliding a paw across its muzzle to rub out the pain. Wincing, it suddenly sneezed from the whack on the nose. When it opened its eyes, it was staring down the barrel of a railgun. With a growl, the Lupine's lips peeled back, ready to leap down the railgun's barrel if it meant getting at the owner. Before he could spring, however...both he and Arya were smacked by a giant portion of the mahogany bar counter. The brunt hit Diego, but both went flying...the thick darkwood chunk pinning on top of the Lupine as its momentum caused Diego to skid along the floor with it. Coming to a stop, nothing moved...

[Zeke]

Zeke sat in a crouch, watching intently.

"...is it over...?" he asked.

[Maia Tharrinn]

Maia peered worriedly at the bar top. She hoped the female it had struck was ok. In truth she hoped she had just knocked Diego out. She did not want anyone else to be hurt this night... To many had already lost there lives...

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya grunted as the heavy bar struck her left shoulder, and went down hard underneath it. Within seconds, everything in the chaotic bar went silent.

The woman under the chunk of bar was pinned on top of the beast, and she started cursing as she felt him moving again. The bar had her lower body in a death crunch, but she swiveled her upper body around and pointed her railgun at the beast's head...

..and then paused in confusion. Arya winced in pain, but could not get up.

[Diego Van Derveld]

A sound could be heard by Arya, vaguely fluid but something completely alien to her ears...or was it? The sheen of coarse fur seemed to retract within the creature, as its unconcious form shifted under the weight of the mahogany, contorting as if to release latent pressure. What Arya now saw was a man, broken and bleeding, and naked as the day he was born. His eyes remained closed, and solemn lines of crimson ran from his left eyebrow and the right corner of his mouth.

[Maia Tharrinn]

Maia went over to the Bar when nothing stirred. Her face drawn into a worried frown. She peered over the rubble and spotted the pinned woman and Diego lying very still under her. She called on the force to lift the heavy bar off of them.

"Please be all right." She mumbled softly.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya scrambled away from the naked man underneath her, and grumbled. "No one ever listens to me when I tell them to run!" She rolled over, and lay on the floor, exhausted.

[imported_Terran Starek]

Terran brought into the focus the scene that lay before him. Death--he could feel it. It made him hurt so much--he would have sobbed...if he wasn't too occupied with dying.

His eyes flickered like dim lights. The room took a red tint--the blood in his eyes. He could taste it in his mouth and feel it running down his chin and neck. His breathing was hard and stuttered, coming in short exasperated draws.

It seemed as though he did not care that he was dying. Good. He deserved it. He had made a dire mistake--one that had taken many lives today. He might as well pay the price for their deaths. Their families, their friends, all lost someone they cared about because of Terran's own curiosity. How foolish he was.

"Take me...release me..." he cried into the Force, looking for a savior. The room was growing dark and light at the same time--as if the light eminated from a source unkown, while the rest of the universe died around him. "I...I'm....I'm sorry..." Whispering softly, his eyes faded. His sight narrowed, only to see something in the light...a figure...

[Maia Tharrinn]

Maia called to the workers that appeared unhurt. "Take Diego to the Med. bay. have a few guards posted in case anything happens, and be careful with him he is hurt." She pointed to a few others that needed help and watched as some men lifted a table from a small indignant looking figure holding a camera. Sighing she moved to a crumpled form that lay against a wall. It was Terran, she had met him once before.

Kneeling beside him she could feel his life force draining. She placed her hands on his head and called to him. Using the force she mustered all the power she could to heal him. It was not something she has specialized in but she would try nonetheless. His breathing steadied and Maia gave an exhausted grin. She nodded for the medical droids to take him to the bay also. She followed behind. She wanted to see how Diego was doing...

[imported_Terran Starek]

Fading...fading...he was dying...the figure...a woman...beautiful.
The figure touched him...it carressed his spirit. He would be ok.

Metal and artificial intelligence surrounded him as he could vaguely hear droids. He concentrated on her. An angel, he thought. She had saved him. He saw her spirit--bright and flowing, glorious in the darkness. He could never forget the way she felt, even though he could never see her face.

"Thank you...my angel..." he spoke to her weakly as he was taken away. He mustered the words, the only thing he could feel. He could not see her nor hear her, but his words would be true. As the droids lifted him, the pain incereased and his consciousness faded.

[Estelle Russard]

The doors to Med-bay 8 burst open and two stretchers were pushed through with organized haste.

Estelle got up from behind the sterile bench where she had been reading, whiling away her on-duty time with a medical journal. The book was almost as deadly boring as the evening so far had been. And so, it was with surprise and a slight sense of panick when she realised two casualties - a dark haired woman and a very naked man - were brought in.

Both were clearly injured, the male much worse than the female. And both, Estelle noticed unhappily were hand-cuffed to the stretchers. The man hand and foot.

"Whats all this?"

"Careful Miss Russard" replied the orderly. "You dont wanna know about the mess this one left in his wake at the B & G"

She looked at them both, dubiously. They didnt look too much of a threat at the moment. She leant toward the woman, and then the man lifting their eyelids gently. Both were equal and reactive. Thats a good sign. That much she knew.

"Well, here, quickly, give me a hand...No,no. Cancel that. Run and get me some help!"

[Diego Van Derveld]

Slowly, Diego's eyes began to open, into a world of sterile, blinding whiteness. It transcended into a stabbing white pain, filling every iota of space in his brain and trickling down his spine, into his extremeties. His skin was hot to the touch, and wailed against the cold durasteel of the stretcher rails, and the clinically cool med ward air. He licked at the confines of his mouth, finding little moisture that wasn't thickened blood. His eyebrows rose, a soreness apparent there too. Even without the binders on hands and feet, he couldn't move. It seemed every other bone in his body was broken. Even breathing was an uphill adventure. Fighting for equilibrium in the concious world, Diego's bloodshot eyes found a bit of serenity, as Estelle attended to his and Arya's wounds. For a moment, he just stared.

[Estelle Russard]

She dabbed gauze at a cut above his eye
- it was deep and would need stitching or "zipping" depending on the tecnique.

His eyes opened and Estelle could see the focus coming into them. The woman was stirring also - she would be conscious momentarily too.

She delberately effected her voice to be gentle, soothing as her natural empathy for the mans pain found voice.

"Can you tell me where it hurts the most?"

[Diego Van Derveld]

His eyes widened a bit, and he allowed himself to look around his person. He was a total mess, apparently...though he could remember absolutely nothing past his meeting with Terran. It was a complete blank, and it was that thought that troubled him. Of all people, Diego knew the kind of things that happened when he could not remember. There would inevitably be trouble.

"Where does it hurt most? Can you patch up my pride?"

He jingled at the binders on his hands.

[Estelle Russard]

She smiled.

"Lets try mend the more pressing things right now shall we?"


She pressed lightly on his chest and upper torso with her hands, seeking any breaks. His body was very warm to the touch and the resulting winces made it clear he had been busted around pretty good.

"Im just going to run a scan on you and your friend, here."

Taking two portable diagnostic units, Estelle set them up and programmed a general scan command into them.

"This wont hurt a bit"

With a low hum, the two machines hovered over both Arya and Diego, registering their injuries and suggested means of treatment.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya opened her eyes, and tried to sit up, but found her hands shackled to the bed. "What the frell!?" She jerked at the bonds and rattled the bed. "Hey!" She snapped at the meek looking woman beside the bed. "What is going on? Where am I?"

Blood rushed from her head at her sudden elevation, and Arya lay back down with a thump. "Wha...?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei got up and was a little more than confused.

"Well, that was a new experience."

Wei got up and helped SLiff to his feet.

"Sorry about that."

[Diego Van Derveld]

As Estelle ran her scan, Diego lay still, a bit frustrated at his position. He could probably tell her better than her own instruments as to his condition. Multiple fractures, punctured lung, numerous lacerations and other trauma. It might as well be a papercut to him. He'd be on his feet again before the sun set.

"Tell me...how many killed, and how many wounded?"

[Maia Tharrinn]

Maia walked in as Diego asked his question. A look of pain flashed across her face. "To many Diego." She said sadly. "I saw what happened." Her face paled slightly. She held no blame for him, he had not been at fault for what had happened. Nor was it the young Jedi who had mistakenly used the force on Diego.

She moved closer to the side of the bed. She could see the considerable damage that the bar top had caused. "I am sorry for hurting you, but I had no other choice." She reached her hand out to his wounded eye and pulled back sharply.

"How is the young Padawan holding up?" She asked glancing over at Estelle...

[Zeke]

Zeke leaned in the door, twirling his sabers between his fingers. He grinned sheepishly at Diego.

"Eheh...sorry dude..."

[Diego Van Derveld]

Diego's eyes flashed blue fire at Zeke, as he lay on the stretcher.

"Wipe that smile off your face. You, and everyone here could have died today. We should all be thankful I was subdued. In that state of being, there is nothing to be reasoned with. Terran's sorcery nearly destroyed us all."

He laughed, a soft laugh of desperation.

"You can't see it. The absolute fear and hatred you instill in those who do not share your gift. And you are suprised when they lash out against your magic? We're all small men, existing at the feet of living Gods, isn't that how it is?"

Diego's voice became grave.

"You Jedi are powerful...but without wisdom, you'll be the death of us all."

[Zeke]

"Heh." Zeke's grin switched to a nervous version and he put a hand behind his head. "Ya think so? But...we're the ones trying to do good. The way you talk it sounds like we're Sith."

[rin]

Meanwhile,...

The Kindermor had not walked far from the establishment, approximately three and a half block's away, when a nagging feeling poked at his small conscious. Sliff tried to preoccupy his thought's on other matter's, however the little voice continued to persist, telling him he was doing some sort of wrong. For a thief to have a conscience was like a mass murderer having remorse for the fresh blood that was still on his hand's. But somehow the little Kendermor knew there was more to it then that...He was a witness to what had occurred in the Jedi bar, he had seen the E-Vac team's come in as well as the NRSF and attend to the wounded and shackle the man and woman in question. Sliff paused in his reluctant step's as he turned to face the direction of the bar block's from him now. He knew that the hairy creature was provoked and the woman was only helping to calm the situation that resulted in a few death's.

"I can't get involved...Besides I have it all recorded." Sliff patted his side satchel reassuringly that contained the Holo-Cam. But oddly the little voice in his head told him it was all wrong, that he needed to return...The Kender sighed as he placed a hand on his hip looking around as if confronting the voice it's self that now sat on his left shoulder.

"But if I do, I'll loose a fortune...I have to eat and stuff...And catch the next transport outta here ya know." Argued the Kender out loud, his voice breaking the silence of the night air as he stood looking around.

Small Voice:"But you must help them Sliff..." Came the small voice again.

Sliff's arm's dropped to his side as if he had lost a battle at sea...

"Yeah...But,...but..." The Kender tried to muster up and argument but found himself lost for word's.

"Ok ok...I'll go back and help that big ole hairy thing and the woman...Even though he tried to eat me!" The last of Sliff's sentence was in protest as the little voice on Sliff's shoulder reassured him.

Small Voice: "Your doing the right thing Sliff...You will do fine."

Moment's later the Kinder found himself running towards the last area he saw the two people being carted off to. After asking a few question's from some locals, the Kinder determined the place in which the two were being held...However the Kinder was not admitted in the large pristine building that jutted up ward's into the night sky.

"I'm telling you I have top secret information concerning the hairy beast and his lover that your holding in there!" Snapped Sliff as he argued with one of the guard's at the building entrance.

"I seen it all happen...Yup, yup...I have it all recorded right here!" Sliff paused as he looked past the guard into the large entrance. If he was going to save them he'd have to get past somehow. A bit of luck that at the moment seemed far reaching in this case.

"If you don't let me in...umm...Well it could mean your job you mean ole guard. I want your identification number right now!" Sliff retorted in a huff as he looked up at the guard who was now ignoring him.

[Loki Ahmrah]

"Exactly. We're trying to do good; when we have an ally such as the Force one has to ask do the intentions behind our actions outweigh their consequences? I would say they do not because as seen here today, innocent people suffer and die because of our own overconfidence." The boy spoke out addressing Zeke as he entered. He hadn't been present at the time of the incident but was on his way here when he heard about the trouble.

"Excuse me, sir." He said to Diego, now stood by his stretcher, "Do you know what exactly causes these changes?"

They boy had spoken with the man a couple of times before but this was the first time he'd heard of this and it worried him. For all intents and purposes, Diego was a bomb waiting to go off at any time and no matter how the discussion can be sugar-coated with arguments about his individual rights, he is a danger to others and something must be done about this.

[Diego Van Derveld]

Diego's sienna-maned head turned on the stretcher to look at Loki in the eyes.

"It is to prevent the few with power from roaming so freely within our minds. See with your eyes, Loki. Who is responsible enough to hold the keys of another's mind?"

[Zeke]

"Overconfidence...?" Zeke repeated. "I didn't think for a second we'd stop him. Or do you mean when someone used the Force on Diego before the transformation?"

[Levi Argon]

"No Zeke, I'm not talking about stopping him for this incident should never have occured and should never occur again either by our own carelessness or something else--" With saying that he looked back to Diego. "No man has the right to another's mind, responsibility cannot be judged quite as easily. There are many masters in our order who have great responsibility but although responsibile none have the right to possess power over another's mind. So you are telling me that the Force causes this dinamic shift in physical form?"

Edit: Just pretend this is under the Loki account. ^_^

[Diego Van Derveld]

"Yes. A defense devised long ago by my kind, who would not be ruled through such sorcery. The price in fighting monsters is that you risk becoming monstrous yourself."

Diego laughed softly, turning his eyes away and closing them.

"It doesn't matter. I had hoped to keep such things secret. Now that it is known, I do not expect to leave here alive."

[Zeke]

"Why? You're a cool guy. Nothing bad about ya."

[Commander Zemil Vymes]

.

[Diego Van Derveld]

"I suppose that's what you'll tell the victims' families as well? It won't matter what words you chose. I have no regrets. I live my life with an even hand, but there are those who will see me, and what I am. And that fills them with fear. And in payment for their fear, my life will be forfeit."

[Zeke]

"Nuh uh! That's not right! If we kill all of you um...um...werewolf dudes, just because of your Force defense, its...just wrong!"

[Diego Van Derveld]

Diego smiled.

"Then, release me."

[Zeke]

Zeke scratched the back of his head and put away the sabers he'd been fiddling with.

"Um...I don't got the key..."

[Diego Van Derveld]

Diego shrugged nonchalantly, the binders jingling.

"I have all the time in the world."

[imported_Terran Starek]

ooc: whoops....:D

[imported_Terran Starek]

Terran listened intently from behind the curtain. No one had known his presence--he had been ignored. Tears stung his cheeks as they spoke. He was crying. A grown man--a hardended, ex-Sith--sobbed as he thought about what had taken place. He was a fool. A fool.

How stupid you are. You escape the darkside only to cause more pain in trying to use the light. What is your problem? His thoughts hurt him. He could not believe what was happening to him. It was like his body hurt more than it ever could. Pain. Not from physical injury...from guilt.

Who do you think you are? What right do you have? Diego was right. He was a curse--his whole gift was in reality not a gift at all. It was tool used to rule others.

You know how to fix this, don't you? Of course you do... He did. He knew how to remedy this situation.

[Maia Tharrinn]

Maia sighed softly at the words her Padawan and Diego spoke. "If we did judge you or as you say Kill you for this. Then yes, we would be no better than the monsters you claim we are. I know what happened and in my eyes it was no ones fault, this terrible accident. You nor the Padawan were to blame. He did it without the knowledge of what would become of you, and you had no control over your reaction to it." Maia said softly and walked over to Diego.

She lifted her hand and waved them over the cuffs. They binders fell to the ground. "We are not monsters."

She walked over to the young Padawan and pressed her hand against his forehead. "It's not your fault Terran, be at peace..."

[Diego Van Derveld]

The binders released, Diego slowly sat up, his face locked in a painful grimace. Upright, he gripped the rail of his stretcher, breathing heavily.

"You know I will kill again. Were I in your position, I would not be so trusting."

Gritting his teeth, he rose to his feet. A symphony of popping sounds rippled down his body as he stretched, newly mended bones returning to an acclimated state. He looked down at Maia, pivoting his head to either side to pop his neck.

"But it is your judgment to be made, and I accept."

[Loki Ahmrah]

"Master Tharrinn!" Loki said with suprise, his eyes wide with objection. "This incident cannot simply be shrugged off!"

There was a clicking sound as Diego found the binders wrapped about his wrists once more. Before the boy continued talking he looked to Diego apologetically, "Please, don't take this personal but innocent people have either been killed or injured today in a most savage way." Feeling that was all the explanation required for the time being, the boy looked back to Maia.

"I appologise if I am being rude but we cannot simply play judge and jury with this man's life or the lives of others which are at stake because of the terrifyingly dangerous transformation that may happen to this man whenever a force-user is around." He looked to two New Republic local law enforcers who now approached Diego. They would no doubt imprison him then he would face a trial for what has occured. That was where Loki hoped to help out.

"We aren't above the law and this man must face trial." Two more officers approached Terran, "As must this gentleman."

The matter was far more grave than a mere brawl in a bar, people had died and been maimed severely today. Diego and his kind were an interesting but extremely dangerous people, safety precautions will have to be taken to make sure such a travesty does not take place again.

[imported_Terran Starek]

"To kill me for what I have done would be justice," he said, sitting up. The pain of the action reared through his body. His chest was healing quickly, but was still swollen and touchy. He put his hands out, waiting to be put into binders. He hoped that he would go to jail for this--maybe for life. If he was lucky, they would kill him quickly. He could not imagine life with the guilt that was on his heart. So much guilt.

[rin]

After long moment's of taunting the hospital guard, Sliff abandoned the notion that the ploy would ever work on the unconquerable man. The stoic guard slowly glanced at the Kender in annoyance. Sliff sighed as if beaten at a game of Sabocc. But Sliff's tenacity for not giving up pressed him on to forgo a different strategy. He still had a few trick's up his little sleeve. Once again the wheel's in Sliff's head began to spin a clever plan that was sure to work...He had to get in one way or another!

Suddenly, the Kendermor began to stagger in front of the guard, then without notice Sliff flopped to the ground with a hard thud in a heap at the man's feet. Sliff grabbed his stomic and balled himself up as if suddenly stricken with an unseen illness...The Kendermor writhed in agony as he rolled around on the ground, moaning and yelping as if the pain he was experiencing was more then he could bare. Sliff opened his eye slightly to peer at the guard to see if his feigned sickness had stirred the man's conscious.

"Oooohh...I,...I knew I shouldn't have eaten that green stuff back at the bar...Ohhh...The horror of it. I think I'm going to pass out...I'm,..I'm seeing star's and stuff...Papa,...Papa...Is that you I see in the shinny white light?" Sliff muttered as he made himself lay still, starring up at the darkened sky with a blank look in his big blue eye's.

[Estelle Russard]

Estelle had been moving about tending quietly to the care of the pair, who, it was becoming more and more clear, were in a great deal more trouble than just their injuries.

The diagnostics on the pair showed very unusual readings - their body structure was definitely human-based but there were some major incongruities in their readouts that even Estelle could pick out from the data. The male, even as she looked at the screen, seemed to be improving without any medical help at all.

She however busied herself applying topical salves to the wounds she could discreetly get to, all the while peicing together the events that had brought he and the darkhaired woman to Med Bay 8. Looking at him, naked and unarmed - she wondered how he had achieved such terrible casualties as were being related by Maia, Loki and the others. Somehow Estelle's heart went out to the offenders. Obviously by the discussion going on, there was much more to this than first met the eye.

She was glad the level headedness of Maia and Loki were balancing the forcefullness of the padawans in the room.

Standing beside the woman, Estelle smiled into her eyes as she awoke completely this time.

"Take it easy" Estelle tried to sound calming - the woman was instinctively agitated and on the defensive. "The salve will help any pain. Other than the bruising and contusions, you are not in too bad a shape. I think we should keep you tho, to observe you, just to make sure."

Brining over some clothing to Diego - horrible hospital-type pyjamas were all she had available, the Jedi Knight was polite, but firm as she addressed the group of fellow Jedi.

"I think we should atleast allow this fellow a bit of privacy to dress. Do we really need to run a makeshift interrogation right here and now?"

She looked from Maia to Loki questioningly, and noticing Terran was hurt too, Estelle put the diagnostic machine to work on him also.

A barrage of hollering and yelling came to them all from the hallway as what appeared another injured party was being wheeled in. "Oh my."

[Maia Tharrinn]

Maia nodded and sighed at Loki's words. "It wasn't his fault." She said sadly. She wanted so much to have all of this fixed. She didn't want Terran to blame himself or Diego to suffer for what he could not control. She cast her eye's away from Diego as Estelle handed him his cloths.

"I am sorry I failed Diego, but I'm sure the council will understand." She moved over to Terran and sat beside him. "Please do not blame your self, it is no fault of yours. an honest mistake." She said softly her hand caressed his cheek in worry.

Just then she heard the voice of the small man "Sliff" she had seen in Yog's. Moving forward she peeked over the shoulders of the guards. "Bring him in here please. Estelle can you help him please?"

She moved back to Terran. Worried for his well being. Sitting down she took his hand and waited for events to unfold...

[rin]

As the Kindermor was wheeled in at a freighting pace, a subtle smile crept across his face as door's a medical staff flew by him. The ride was so fun and exhilarating as they barreled down the white hallway, the Kender felt like raising his arm's and shouting out with glee. However, Sliff continued to maintain and clutch his tummy area as he neared a large room. Sliff yelled louder as some of the people in the bar that night came into view. All the sudden, Sliff plopped out of his chair as the nurse and the guard behind him continued their steady pace down the hall. As the Kendermor hit the tile with a grunt, he slid along the smoothly polished floor where he came to rest at Estelle feet.

Slowly Sliff looked up at the woman with a pitiful mask upon his little face, his eye's exuding pain, his lower lip was slightly pooched out as he stared up at her...

"I...I'm dying..." Sliff exclaimed feebly as he suddenly closed his big blue eye's and fainted...

[Estelle Russard]

"Dying...?"

Well that was dramatic, Estelle grinned. The Kindermor was sprawled on the floor limp, and she watched with satisfaction as those big blue eyes bugged open again as she had expected when she announced "someone bring the probes"

She bent to help Sliff up to his feet, her eyes smiling. "Oh, I see you aren't quite dying after all." What a little faker.

Leading him over to another stretcher on the other side of the room, trying to keep his very curious eyes and ears out of all that was transpiring around Diego.

Diego. The poor man looked so...she searched for the right word..but all she could seem to come up with was "trapped."

She turned back to the new arrival.

"Lets have a look at you, oh dying one."

[rin]

Estelle found herself helping the Kendermor up and onto the gurney as his little three and a half foot frame struggled hopelessly at the task. After lifting Sliff up and turning him around, Sliff cheek's flushed a rosy hue at all the attention he was receiving from the beautiful nurse woman. As the Kendermor glanced around the large open medi-bay, he noticed the Lupine and the woman who now had binder's around their wrist's. A troubled look crossed Sliff's face a he glanced back to Estelle, his big blue eye's frowning as he did so.

"Are they going to be in trouble and stuff?" Sliff questioned, his word's had a tinge of empathy in them. Sliff figured that he better come clean while he had the chance.

"Umm...Pretty lady...Ah...There's something I have to tell you about that hairy guy over there and that woman who's his girlfriend." Sliff paused to take a deep breath before he continued. The woman checked Sliff's vital sign's as he rattled on.

"Well, I'm not really sick and stuff,...Umm, well juz a little sick I suppose here and there. Sliff pointed to a small scrape on his elbow, then continued as Estelle squinted her eye's at the small wound then back at Sliff.

Well, I was at the bar when all the stuff broke out...I mean,...I recorded it all on my Holo-Cam right here." Sliff patted his satchel then looked back to the woman again.

"I was going to leave and stuff...The bar that is...And I was walking..."Sliff paused in mid sentence at the thought, wondering if the woman would believe him and the little voice that spoke to him, telling him to return and explain what he had witnessed.

"Yeah, I was walking and this tiny voice on my shoulder...I think it was on my shoulder..."Sliff glanced to his left shoulder to see if anything was there, then quickly glanced back to the nurse.

"It told me I couldn't leave until I helped the two over there on the stretcher's...Yup, yup...I seen it all happen...Everything!...There was a man that did something strange to that hairy guy...And all the sudden...BAM!...He got all pissie!..." The Kendermor slapped his tiny hand's together for affect as it's suddenness startled the Jedi woman.

"Blood was goosh'en everywhere...Bodies flew every which way and stuff...It was most frightening...So I took out my Holo-Cam and recorded it all...As you can see I got away...Yup,...That hairy man over there was going to eat me and stuff!" Sliff took a deep breath then finished to the relief of the woman in front of him.

"But you know what...I don't think he meant to do what he did tonight. You wanna know why?" Sliff whispered in low tone's as he leaned into Estelle.

"Cuz he's in love...I think it's a lovers triangle...Yep, and that guy who touched the hairy man's head made him get all pissie and stuff...Here, look..." The Kendermor reached into his satchel and retrieved the silver Holo-Cam that he had borrowed from a traveler a few month's prior, handing it to the pretty nurse.

[Diego Van Derveld]

Hearing Loki's words, Diego nodded reluctantly.

"That will be fine. But, if you are going to restrain me..."

He held up his shackled hands, jingling the binders and scrutinizing them.

"...then you should find something more secure, to put your minds at ease. I can easily escape from these devices, and they won't offer any decent security."

He'd managed to work the gown on and around his shoulders before the binders were re-applied. However, he was now unable to finish the task, and the drawstring remained untied and the gown was open in the back.

"I could use a little help."

He gave a half-innocent, wry smile.

"I won't bite...this time."

[Zeke]

Zeke looked to Maia.

"You do it."

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya flexed her right arm and yanked, and the chain on the restraint holding her to the bed snapped. "Get me out of here!" She struggled with the left restraint even as a burly orderly ran to grab her loosed arm. "I helped out the frelling Jedi...why am I restrained!?"

With a quick movement, she fastened her hand onto the orderly's face and yanked him backwards across her legs, his stomach to the ceiling. Arya tightened her right hand on his chin, her fingers digging into the sides of his face. "I can't be here. Let me go! I am well! Why the... why!?" Her voice shook with fear.

It was well known that shapeshifters, changelings as it were, the Shi'ido and the Clawdites were not exactly accepted members of society. Many other sentients felt deep grudges against the ones who would not keep the same shape. Arya haad not been in a proper med ward since she had been a child at home. No one knew...but....they could not learn her name!

She tightened her hold on the orderly, half sitting in bed with the man pinned with her arm. "Let me go!"

[Maia Tharrinn]

Maia looked at Zeke and then at Diego. A blush heated her cheeks to a bright red. She walked behind Diego without a word said and quickly tied his gown. When she came back around her eyes were huge and her face even redder.

"There it's tied," was all she could say.

When the woman who had been helping in the bar began to get upset. Maia moved toward her. She had thought the woman was tied down so she would not hurt herself.

"What is the meaning of this. She has done nothing at all except help us. Surely you have no justification in keeping her this way. Release her at once please." Maia asked in calm but indignant tones. They complied and the woman was released.

"I am sorry for your treatment. With all that has been happening I don't think they knew that you had been helping." She shot a guilty glance over at Diego and his bound wrists...

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya huffed, and shrugged off further medical help. "I guess mistakes happen." She glared at the orderly, who returned the favor, and then stood to her feet, still a little shaky from being hit by the chunk of bar.

"Where are my weapons?" She ran her finger through her hair, and noticed that the visible wounds on the other changeling were already healing. Regeneration, interesting.

[Diego Van Derveld]

Diego turned ever-so slightly as Maia finished the task, blue eyes shadowing her. The rosy shade was testament enough, though invisible pheromones told even more. He allowed her a smile, and it seemed the flush to her cheeks rose even further as she broke eye contact. The noise changed Diego's attention as well. Arya was coming to...and making a fuss of it all. Diego's brow furrowed as he watched, returning to sit on the stretcher, next to Loki. Tiring of the Shi'ido's tyrade, Diego smiled at Loki.

[imported_Terran Starek]

The conversation continued. As Terran kept silent, Maia slipped a hand into his own. He looked up at her, his eyes steady. Then he realized something...she was the one. She had saved him. She...he couldn't believe it was her. He could feel it as soon as she touched him again. His eyes widened as it came into his mind.

He looked away, feeling a bit embarassed. He wasn't exactly in a logical state of mind--how could he be?--and he felt slightly incompetent. Tears began to well up again in his very tired and overmositurized eyes. He felt so, so bad. He knew what was next for him, but he kept it inside. No, it wouldn't be necessary to reveal his course of action untill it was time.

He squeezed Maia's hand, thanking her silently. He had much to say to her--he would thank her more at a more appropriate time, when they had the chance to speak alone.

[Loki Ahmrah]

The boy sighed, making all the ambient noise and goings-on fade to background as he tried to make sense of it all and put things into perspective. Diego's situation was an interesting one and he has hurt a lot of people today whether he wanted to or not, that still stands yet how much is known about his kind? The boy pondered on this then turned to the man, taking a seat.

"I really don't know what to make of all this. No-one will be executing you, it's not how things are run in the New Republic to my knowledge. Your ability to shape-shift like that is remarkable but unfortunately that which you turn into likes to make a meal out of people like me and my fellow Jedi." He leaned forward, his hands clasped in front of him and looking down he shook his head. "You should've told us what you are if you are going to be around us. Not only are you a danger to innocent people but you are a danger to yourself. Doesn't that scare you?"

His questions were hardly interrogating but curious and searching for he hadn't heard of Diego's kind before; it worried him quite a lot that he took so many people for granted by their outward appearance. What if Diego had turned into a vornskr when they had spoken? "What chance would I have?" He thought as a gaurd entered with a more sufficient set of restraints.

"There are so many factors that come into play with a case such as yours. If this sort of thing continues, I don't think it bodes well for your people with the authorities. Yours is a very precarious situation."

[Diego Van Derveld]

"And what would be done if I were to say what I am up front? Nobody would feel safe until I was locked away or dead."

Diego shook his head.

"I can understand your fear. I'm sorry for it."

He made a face.

"So you're a Jedi, too? So young...."

[Loki Ahmrah]

"No sir, I am not a Jedi. A Padawan Learner is what I am, my job in the order is to learn, suprisingly enough and the ridiculous hair-do comes with it to boot!" He irritably took revield the padawan braid from beside his ear and smiled. He had deliberatly avoided asking about Diego's "So young" comment as it would only bring about a theology discussion and would prove unproductive.

"I think you should have more faith in people. If you'd come forward then something could've been arranged. I'm sure you wouldn't want some sort of neon sign over your head stating: 'I turn into a freakin' big vornskr!'" He chuckled a little then added, "So I understand that you'd like your privacy to remain intact but what needs to be figured out is a way to not invade your privacy but ensure the safety of others and yourself."

Loki stood, he didn't like medical facilities much for they seemed so clammy and artificial. He took a jug of water and poured himself a glass, "Care for some water?" He asked Diego.

"And another thing, don't be sorry for who you are. At the end of the day, what happened earlier was unintentional and accidental. What we need to think out is how to prevent it happening again." He concluded with a frown as the gaurd placed the replacement binders on Diego's wrists. They were stun-cuffs and would deaden his hands whilst on, that would make it difficult for him to drink from a glass.

[Diego Van Derveld]

"I'm not sorry for who I am, Loki. If you can sleep each night with a clean concience, then you live a proper life."

Diego reached down, placing a hand atop the boy's head.

"You're a good lad, boy. I only wish you'd reconsider your choice of life. You're playing with fire."

[Estelle Russard]

As Sliff theorised and explained, Estelle felt a little more confused than before he had started to clarify things for her.

His eyes were wide and sparkled with excitement of being in the thick of things.

Estelle looked back over the group, keeping an ear tuned as much as she could from her distance from them.

Lovers? Triangle?


She released a small sigh of slight exasperation, turning back to the small fellow.

"Wha? Who are you, exactly?"

[Diego Van Derveld]

Diego turned at Estelles exclamation, an idea beginning to brew in his head.

"Oh, you didn't know?"

He smiled, sidling over to Arya, touching her side with a cuffed hand.

"Yes, I must admit. I am madly taken for her. I can only hope that she feels the same for me. At least I think thats why she followed me here. To think she was about to shoot me, too. I suppose if she couldn't bear to break my heart, the best alternative was to end my life in a humane way."

He turned to her, smiling.

"Right, dear?"

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya looked over, and glared. "If you'd stop pulling that insane mammal act, then we might have a chance at happily ever after." She leveled her gaze at the Jedi and the NR guards she could see just outside the door.

"If people would have listened to me instead of trying to be heroic and flattening me to the ground, we could have gotten the bar cleared and everyone home for dinner...instead of being dinner!" She looped her arm through Diego's arm, and kissed his cheek. Ew, he smells like blood.

[rin]

The Kender took back the Holo-Cam from Estelle hand as her attention was drawn to the conversation behind them. Sliff immediately pulled the holo-cube that stored all the video information within, including a speeder collision that took place day's before that Sliff found to irresistible not to record; then he placed the tiny multifaceted cube back in the nurse's hand.

Oh, I'm Sliff,...Sliff the Sneak...That's what people came me,...Yup, but I don't sneaking around and stuff...much." Replied the Kender in a wee little voice, a smile spreading across his child like face.

As Estelle gently rubbed the clear salve on Sliff's minuscule scratch he received in the pub earlier, the Kinder overheard Diego express his true love and affection's to Arya. The Kender leaned in once more to Estelle, a surprised looked ensued as he whispered in low tone's.

"Oohh,...See I told you so...I knew it!...He has the hots for her!" Sliff clapped his hand's together in excitement as he starred at the two professed lover's.

"I think they make a fine couple...Don't ya think nurse lady?...Awww...Little wolfy babies all running around the country side and stuff?" The Kendermor shot Estelle a coy smile as he finished.