The Menagerie (Horror - OPEN)

[IMPLEMENT]

OOC: Only those who don't mind a total Mind-Frelling need apply. There will come a point, where nothing will be as it seems, and if you really want in this, I expect a bit of abstract understanding from you.

The Coruscant WeatherNet shifted to "rain". On a nearly artificial planet, even the turning of the seasons and blowing of the winds were itself, orchestrated events. Events you could set your clock to. So when the rain fell in the Coco district, the denizens of the city planned for on other planets was the unpredictable. Sheets of rain deluged into the urban canyons, as isolated lighting burst in the high clouds. Such was a necessary cycle, for various reasons. Pedestrians had long since made their way indoors, planning out such a storm in their daily schedules. Restaurants, and other places were predictably packed. In all respects, aside from the inconvenience of the WeatherNet, it was just another day for the trillions of inhabitants. They adjusted their activities around the rain, and those who could afford the time, spent it indoors. A siesta drew across the Coco district, for the two hours it was scheduled to rain. And in Master Yoghurt's Bar & Grill, business was up.

[Arya Ravenwing]

The dark haired woman ran down the pedwalk in the rain, her short hair hanging down in her eyes. The walkway above her was pouring water off like mini waterfalls and she was getting it down the back of her collar. She pulled her long black nerfhide jacket in around her and ducked into the nearest bar. The neon sign outside proclaimed it to be "Yoghurt's Bar and Grill" and that it was "OPEN ALL NIGHT." Except that a few lights were out, and it really said "O EN ALL NI HT."

She ran her hands through her hair, and slid onto a bar stool. "Guiness." The bartender eyed her, and she ignored him until he pushed her drink over the bartop. "Thanks."

Arya drank deeply, and then set the drink down, sloshing it a little. Smuggling runs were few and far between these days. Kessel had gone legit under Prent Inc. and although the usual pack of lowlifes that lived there were enjoying their new occupations as legit transporters... Well, company was lacking. Corellia and Nar Shaddaa were still hot spots for smuggling, what with the Sith Order keeping an iron fist around trade in those areas.

Although if they thought they had the Hutt's tamed, they were in for a shock. No one tamed the Hutts. A Hutt lives far too long and has too good of a memory for anyone else to stay ahead of them.

Arya drained her ale and ordered another.

[Cassidy Williams]

It wasn't unusual for Cassidy to be in Yog's. Since her residence at the Jedi Order had begun the padawan had often found enjoyment in associating at the popular establishment. Today was a different story.

She hated teh rain, especially on Coruscant. The fact that it too was controlled somehow made it seem harsher and more dismal. Restlessly seated in a booth Cassidy sighed and stared out the glass pane at the torrents of water. She longed to be outside but the conditions seemed to her too harsh, bringing forth images of biblical proportion ammusingly. Still, she didn't smile.

On the table in front of her lay one of the lates volumes in a popular series, unread. She wasn't in the mood to be emmersed in the story today, surprisingly. Blinking her eyelids that were growing heavy from lack of movement, Cassidy slid from the vinyl-covered seat and slumped over to the bar.Using the bracings of a stool to look over the counter the girl decided to order some food. She had to do something.

"Bantha burger please, no onion, extra bacon. And a cup of Namana juice."

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya's eyes slid over the younger woman, and then tipped her second ale up towards her lips. At least she hadn't ordered onions. Nothing worse than onion breath.

The smuggler kept her elbows in and her feet tucked around the bottom of her bar stool, water slowly dripping off her jacket onto the floor. She hadn't taken it off, and wasn't intending to. As soon as the weather broke (in about twenty minutes if the WeatherNet could be trusted to switch on time) she would be back on her way.

[Sanis Prent]

(I made a dash through the door, getting out of the driving rain as soon as I could. Once inside, I could feel the eyes of a few dozen bar denizens bearing down on me. After all, who goes out in the rain, when they know the rain's coming. I shrugged off their curious glances like the precipitation accumulated on my hair and jacket, and moved toward my usual seat at the bar.)

Mr. Prent...

Right, right....I know.

(I paused, and removed my shell gun from its holster, along with the bandolier at my waist, handing them to the door guard. He grunted, and I shrugged, resuming the act of getting dry and getting a pint. Glancing down the bar, I spotted Arya Ravenwing...a nefarious swindler I'd had the misfortune of crossing at least once. I gave her a pained smirk, and returned to my drink, alone)

[Milivikal k'Vik]

Elsewhere on Coruscant:
"The lawman called me down.
My husband died

Said I set a fire in his heart, oh
Said I snuffed what was alight, oh

I'm not the grief maker you
make me out to be

Not my fault he died for me
Lawman, set me free.

Said I set a fire in his heart, oh
Said I snuffed what was alight, oh

No sense without
Evidence. Yes,
Without Ev-vi-dence

The house band was weak in spots, but that was to be expected. Most of the guys did this as a weekend gig, and had day jobs.

To the crowd, however, they sounded absolutely amazing. Milivikal had tweaked the acoustics in the room, subtly shifting the pitch in spots.

Her voice, however, seemed absolutely impossible. It could be breathy and sultry one momen; operatic and and dramatic the next.

"Encore! ENCORE! The crowd began to cry out as Mili started to walk off the stage.

Mili grabbed a 10 stringer, and strummed it a few times as she walked back on.

"This is going to sound a bit different from the normal Eziban Jazz." She explained, and began playing a rythm part until the rest of the band picked up on it.


You gotta be crazy, you gotta have a real need
You gotta sleep on your toes, and when you're on the street
You gotta be able to pick out the easy meat with your eyes closed
And then moving in silently, down wind and out of sight
You gotta strike when the moment is right without thinking.
And after a while, you can work on points for style
Like the club tie, and the firm handshake
A certain look in the eye, and an easy smile
You have to be trusted by the people that you lie to
So that when they turn their backs on you
You'll get the chance to put the knife in.
You gotta keep one eye looking over your shoulder
You know it's going to get harder, and harder, and harder as you get older
And in the end you'll pack up, fly down south
Hide your head in the sand
Just another sad old man
All alone and dying of cancer.
And when you loose control, you'll reap the harvest that you've sown
And as the fear grows, the bad blood slows and turns to stone
And it's too late to loose the weight you used to need to throw around
So have a good drown, as you go down, alone
Dragged down by the stone.
I gotta admit that I'm a little bit confused
Sometimes it seems to me as if I'm just being used
Gotta stay awake, gotta try and shake off this creeping malaise
If I don't stand my own ground, how can I find my way out of this maze?
Deaf, dumb, and blind, you just keep on pretending
That everyone's expendable and no-one has a real friend
And it seems to you the thing to do would be to isolate the winner
And everythings done under the sun
And you believe at heart, everyone's a killer.
Who was born in a house full of pain
Who was trained not to spit in the fan
Who was told what to do by the man
Who was broken by trained personnel
Who was fitted with collar and chain
Who was given a pat on the back
Who was breaking away from the pack
Who was only a stranger at home
Who was ground down in the end
Who was found dead on the phone
Who was dragged down by the stone.

[Nupraptor]

As her song ended, the sound of the instrument Milivikal was playing faded and was replaced by the sound of a solitary man clapping.

"Bravo, bravo, dear sister. An impressive performance, as always. We must confess, however, that it was an unexpected pleasure... we did not think we'd find any of our Hand brethren out here."

The cyborg walked closer, his mechanical gaze flowing over Mili as he seemed to appraise her form. The light seemed to play strangely across his figure, making it difficult to focus on. He smiled, a distinctly wolfish gesture, and asked "Would you care to go for a drink? We're buying."

[Xazor Elessar]

"Make that two cups of Namana Juice."

A soft voice sounded from behind Cassidy. With a smile across her face, Xazor gently touched the shoulder of the young Padawan and sat down in the seat across from her.

"Hope you don't mine me joining you."

The Knight smiled, baring her elongated canines. For a moment her cyan blue eyes met the table top and a few waist length Garou Warrior Braids fell forward to touch her face slightly. The silver coins woven into them clanged together just audible enough for a few surrounding their table to hear. After a moment of thought, Xazor looked up at Cassidy and smiled.

"It's a rather gloomy day out, yes? I got drenched on my way here."

She said softly, motioning to her wet hair and black robes. Droplets of the liquid still rested upon her forehead and cheeks, but the Garou woman brushed them away in a matter of moments.

"So, what brings you out today?"

[Milivikal k'Vik]

Mili took a moment, relaxing her grip on the room.

"Nor did I, Fallen." Light played oddly about his figure, subtly bent, slowly twisting. His red eye glowed softly, the hallmark of an artificial replacement.

He offered a drink, and the grin of a predator. Almost like Sorsha's.

"Certainly. Let me put my ten-string away, and I'll be right back." He was a bit of an enigma, having twisted his moral compass on his own, although not without help. Hers had always been a bit off, and only was nudged harder when she was exposed to reality's corruption.

Different and dangerous, but also fascinating.

Milivikal returned, ten-string case slung across her back.

"Lead the way."

[Korge Jazzka]

Karussss.....verassin inatt!!!
Shule feyr kriga ina hollan hrag!!!
Karussssss.....meeeegt vaaaaa shollur!!!

The headphones on Korge's ears barely contained the high-decibel frenzy of his music, as it thundered in his brain. The beat was harsh and synthetic, and the singer's voice was gravelly and lacking in any aesthetic value. Indeed, it was a good deal more guttural than Basic, and as it was Korge's native language of Deronian, it was out of a sense of vain personal preference that he listened to it.

However, Korge Jazzka was far from ignorant of basic, or much else. Though dropping out after a year of college, he picked up a knowledge of computer systems on his own time...to a level that embarrassed most professors. A testament to the fine line between genius and misunderstood deviant, Jazzka felt his talents confined by the bland, mundane world that a career offered him. Instead, he made a living by his own rules.

In the dim light of the B&G, his blue face was illuminated by the screen of a notebook terminal, set upon the table. Blue fingers moved in a blur across the keypad, providing a constant tapping sound...until he paused to flick away the accumulating ash on his cigarette. Occasionally, he'd look luridly up from his screen at the attractive waitress, and smile. He tipped her well, and she kept his drink coming. It was all he required until the rain stopped...when he'd be on his way for an "informal meeting".

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya saw a blonde woman sit next to the other girl at the table near the bar, and recognized her. She turned away in disgust, and found herself staring at Sanis Prent. The woman rolled her eyes, and got off the bar stool, making her way to a booth by the window so she could watch the rain fall. I'm sick of this small world.

She nursed her ale, resting her chin in her hand.

[Cassidy Williams]

Though she was grateful for the familiar presence of Xazor, Cassidy's outlook was rather dim and gloomy. She shrugged at her sister.

"I was bored. I hate the rain."

She sighed and tried to smile but it wasn't very convincing. Everything in the bar seemed tired and sort of... limp. When she'd joined the order Cassidy had childishly expected swashbuckling adventure. Of course, that wasn't always the case as she was learning.

"You?"

[Xazor Elessar]

Xazor shook her head and sighed inwardly. Her eyes glanced outside at the rain. It was beautiful to her -- refreshing and life giving, but others did not see it that way.

"Actually I was just pondering something. I know you don't have a Master yet, and I was -- well, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind me taking you on."

She asked quietly, making for casual -- at least to her -- conversation. The Knight's eyes searched about for a moment until they came to rest upon a familiar face. "Arya -- guess they'll let anyone in here these days." The Garou rolled her eyes and set them back upon Cassidy.

"If so -- I'd be honored to have you."

[Nupraptor]

It was raining by the time the two Dark Jedi reached the Bar & Grill. Under normal circumstances, Nupraptor would have found the idea of eating alongside Jedi to be just short of revolting. But there was something in the air this night... something electric, which gave him the urge to visit the favorite Coruscant hotspot once again.

As he walked in, the atmosphere of the place pressed against him like a thick humidity. It was quite a mix of people tonight... perhaps he and his escort would not be noticed amongst such a crowd. They found a booth towards the back and silently sat themselves. Nupraptor idly, almost unconsciously, manipulated the light around their seating, casting the both of them in a thick shade so as to make them more difficult to notice.

"Of all the members of the Hand," he started, as they sat down, "You are perhaps the most mysterious to us, Milivikal. We know nothing of your origins or your intents."

He fixed his gaze on her fiercely then, making sure she took in the full meaning of what he meant.

"Thus, we trust you less than anyone else, as well."

[Milivikal k'Vik]

Milivikal forced down a sense of rising panic. The last time she was near this many Jedi... the Siren shuddered inside.

The centipede squirmed in her skull, stimulating endorphin production to counteract the adrenaline.

Her body relaxed a bit.

While she knew that Nupraptor was a master of obfuscation, her trust in hiding only went so far, especially when surrounded by Jedi.


"Of all the members of the Hand," he started, as they sat down, "You are perhaps the most mysterious to us, Milivikal. We know nothing of your origins or your intents."

He fixed his gaze on her fiercely then, making sure she took in the full meaning of what he meant.

"Thus, we trust you less than anyone else, as well."

Mili straightend, taking a deep breath. How sharp an edge was she standing on?

"Our paths have crossed little." She said to the cyborg, the sound immediately dropping off into oblivion at the table's edge. Speaking under such conditions was probably safer than telepathy in the hive of their adversaries.

"I am one of Vicet's favored, The Favored, before She passed the mantle to others, like Sorsha. This is first time two have been together. It is strange to share. For four thousand years, I slept, alive by Vicet's will, moved about as an artifact and reminder." Mili's hands involuntarily gripped the edge of the table as she talked about her prison that she had lay in for four millenia.

"Ah, but before that, I was a public tool for the Jedi, for entertainment, for information until I fell and was thought to be destroyed."

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya felt the gaze of the Sith on her back. No, Jedi. Xazor was a Jedi. Marcus had tried to explain their mission to her, but Arya had ended up throwing her hands in the air and walking away from the frustration.

It was all very well and good to talk about doing evil for the cause of good. She did it all the time. Except she didn't see it as evil, not really. Smuggling was good for the soul. Or the stomach, as the case may be. Arya smuggled things into planets and cities that the ruling classes deemed illegal (and which might have been perfectly legal only a parsec over). In return, she made enough creds to survive.

It wasn't a lot, but it was her life. Marcus always seemed to be trying to change her. Sometimes she appreciated it. Sometimes it just cramped her style. Like Jina. The girl was with her stepmother, or whatever that insane woman was to her. It was a month off for Arya, who was happy to enjoy herself without a tiny tag-a-long for once.

She curled her hand around her mug and stared out the window at the water-streaked landscape.

[Cassidy Williams]

Her order arrived and Cassidy looked at the food without interest. The juice would be enough to content her. Taking a sip Cassidy listened as Xazor spoke.

"...I know you don't have a Master yet, and I was -- well, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind me taking you on."

The liquid caught in her throat and the girl barely managed to choke it down before she coughed. Looking at Xaz incredulously, Cassidy opened her mouth.

"...Are...Are you serious? No jokin'?"

What kind of a question was that? Shaking her head to erase her previous statement the padawan nodded vehemently.

"That'd be...Well I mean...I'd love it. Really. Oh..."

[Sanis Prent]

Credit for your thoughts.

(I straddled the seat next to Arya, and continued to look straight ahead, at nothing in particular. Tilting my mug back, I drained the dregs from my first brew, before signalling the tender to refill.)

Y'know, our paths cross an awful lot for just coincidence. Just glad this time, its not a hit & run.

[Xazor Elessar]

Xazor smiled gently and nodded.

"Good -- we will begin right now, then."

She looked about the Bar until her eyes came to rest upon Arya and a new figure -- someone Xazor recognized immediatly as being Sanis Prent.

"See them -- stay away from people like that for now, we don't need to deal with that element."

The Knight said as she pointed over at the pair before bringing her attention back to her sister -- her Padawan.

[Arya Ravenwing]

The smuggler's eyes slid over to where Xazor's voice was dripping with superiority. Her ears were sharp today, and hearing the two Jedi's conversation was fairly easy.

She bristled at the woman's comments, and thought about getting up and starting a brawl, but resisted the urge. Arya turned to look at Sanis. "Well, a hit and run is more my style." A smile traced her lips as she looked back out the window.

[Cassidy Williams]

Cassidy turned to look over her shoulder, puzzled. She didn't recognize the woman, but he man she did. Cassidy had had a bit of a crush on Mr. Sanis Prent, and she still kept a scrapbook. Blushing slightly, she turned to look at Xazor.

"How come? What's wrong with them?"

'People like that' were the kind of people that the girl had grown up around. Her own father was a person like that and so she didn't understand just what her Master was getting at.

[Nupraptor]

Nupraptor's jaw tensed and relaxed as Mili spoke, almost as if he were attempting to chew her words in order to better digest them. Another of Vicet's children, then. It seemed that the Hand certainly was a convergence of Chaos.

"You sound as if you could share great knowledge with us. Surely, you must have accumulated some wisdom over the years, yes? We could use one such as you as an ally..."

His voice trailed off as his eyes moved from side to side, suspiciously.

"But we can discuss that at a later time," he said. A smile - his smile - parted his lips. "For now, I'm in the mood to have a little fun", he said, his gaze paused upon a certain blonde Jedi Knight.

[Xazor Elessar]

Xazor laughed to herself at Cassidy's question, not to be rude but to express something hidden within her emotions. "What's wrong with them? What isn't, is more of a proper question." The Knight stated with a disgusted glance in the direction of the subject of the Jedi's conversation. With a sigh, Xazor leaned back slightly and looked about the Bar and Grill.

"Many days and nights have I spent in this establishment. It's a wonderful place to meet friends and, unfortunatly, make enemies." She said softly, recalling the meeting of her ex-husband and the multitude of meetings with Vampires and Sith. Perhaps the subject was a little off of the lesson she began teaching her newest Padawan, her sister. Suddenly an uncomfortable ripple touched her through the Force. A flash of red whipped through the Knight's mind and suddenly she saw faces -- faces of a select few sitting throughout the Bar and Grill. The one that struck a bit of fear in her the most was the face of the young girl sitting across from her. Terror was upon her youthful face as she seemed to slip into a sort of abyss. Just then, the vision faded and the Garou was left with a painful expression upon her face as she eyed Cassidy.

"Are -- are you okay?" The girl questioned but all Xazor could do was sit there. "It's happening again." She thought to herself. Only twice before had she seen a vision -- she had thought her mother to be the only person capable of such terribly terrific things. "I'm a mentalist -- and a healer! I can't be seeing these things! Not now, anyway!" The internal struggle ceased, though, as Cassidy pinched Xazor's arm. "Ow!" The Knight screeched as she grasped the painful red mark upon her flesh. "What was that for?" Cassidy eyed Xazor curiously and shook her head. "Are you alright?" She questioned again. "Ya sure didn't look good. Are ya sick?" The Knight pushed thoughts of the vision from her mind and shook her head.

"I'm fine -- I just remembered that I -- forgot my journal in the Academy and I was afraid someone would read it." Xazor lied but thought it would suffice for a reason as to why she had turned a sickly pale and had the expression of one in a painful death upon her face. Soon after she spoke, a service droid approached the table with their order and the Knight took her drink and sipped it gratefully.