Unforgiven Misgivings

[imported_Mr. Flux]

Flux looked at a datapad that lay in front of him, as he was sitting in a bar across a street from. There was a conflict not to far from here- a conflict with a lupine. A female one at that. From the description of the lupine that was attacked, it wasn't s'Ilancy. A sigh of relief exited the small boy's body.

He read on; seeing that a rather pale person dressed oddly interferred when the lupine was injured. Helped it escape. He sat up and read further. Different things were happening in his mind. He was reading about someone he knew. Someone he witnessed nearly die.

Someone his brother was very fond of. He narrowed his eyes. Could it be the pariah, Ms. Ice? The datapad soon ended after that. He was not able to get any more information than what the Coruscant watch put into it.

But he did have a direction that the pair went to. A hotel.

He gathered his hat; his things. He put the datapad within his garb and he left the bar, paying his tab. He went towards where the conflict had been said to have been, noticed several shell casings, a bit of a remaining blood stain. So it was indeed recent.

He looked around and then forward. Ah. The hotel. He smiled as he began to walk towards it, passing several bystanders who stared at his odd dress- his small frame.

[hGozomi]

She had helped the Lupine from the fight - bringing the woman back to her own room at a somewhat modest hotel in order to help her recuperate. Nzambi, as she'd learned was the woman's name, had been apprehensive at first, but hGozomi insisted that she needed to heal; and to heal in the peace and quiet of a silent room.

Thankfully the Lupine had relented; albeit grudgingly.

The fight itself had been typical - Guardian against Lupine. She hadn't known the Guardian, nor the Lupine, but still felt the need to step in. And she had. It had been a relatively short fight after that, with hGozomi knocking back the Guardian before helping the Lupine - Nzambi - escape. And as far as she knew, they hadn't been followed.

So now, with Nzambi dozing on the bed, hGozomi busied herself with the stack of datapads on the small desk provided.

They contained various musical compositions, and the as the albino pulled the top pad in front of her, she flicked it on with mild interest - it would be some time before she finished this particular piece.

[imported_Mr. Flux]

He confronted the conciegre at the desk. He asked about the description of both the lupine and the woman. He man had told him that he did indeed have such a pair here. But that he couldn't disclose where they were. He smiled.

"My good man; I am a Jedi. I am on official business of the Guardians, I would not be here otherwise."

He angled his head upward, letting his eyes focus on the mans own. He hesitated, and then finally gave in. The room number was given to him. Flux thanked the man, bade him good day, and then went to the lift.

He whistled in the elevator- being the only person in it. And once it chimed the floor he needed, he stepped out and walked with an eery grace that age gave; but only a child could master. He looked up to the room numbers as he walked, before he found it.

"Ah...721."

He said as he pressed a button, causing a chime in the room to be heard.

[hGozomi]

hGozomi looked up from what she was doing before turning a quick eye to the Lupine to make sure she was still dozing. She was.

Lifting herself from her chair, she made her way to the door, her brows furrowing in confusion. There was no one she knew on this planet that had knowledge of her brief return, and she hadn't ordered any roomservice...

Reaching to the stand by the door, her fingers wrapped around the handle of one of Nzambi's knives; the blade bent at a slight curve downward, and the albino found it to fit her hand easily. With her other hand, she turned the knob slowly, pulling the door open gently...

... to find herself staring down at someone she knew only vaguely, but well enough...

[imported_Mr. Flux]

"Ms. Ice. What a pleasure to see you again. And in such.."

He hesitated, before offering a smile.

"Good health. I read about you in a report- I thought I would investigate."

He said as he looked in the room, and saw a figure on the bed. He paid no attention to her hand behind her back. He smiled, figuring who it was. Ice knew that Flux new. He was too old to be nieve. But he merely offered a hand out, smiling- being ever charming, evenin in his small body.

"My apologies; I did not know you were entertaining a guest. Perhaps I should come back another time. Or we should set a meeting. I've been wanting to talk to you."

[hGozomi]

An eyebrow arched, and hGozomi remained motionless. It was fairly evident that he knew who the person on the bed was - and what she was for that matter, but the fact didn't daunt her in the least. She moved then, to block the Guardian's view into the room. It was a subconscious movement, as she'd become naturally defensive when it came to helping Lupines.

"Mr. Flux. So nice to see you once more."

The curved dagger slowly came out, and she replaced it on the stand once more. "Yes - I do have a guest over... I'm sorry that you had to come up for no reason, but I'm rather busy at the moment.

"And I'm not Ice anymore - my name is hGozomi - you seem to be breaking a few rules by calling me by my stripped title- "

The sound of a cocked blaster interrupted her, and hGozomi froze...

[imported_Mr. Flux]

"What else would you suggest I call you? Pariah? Outcast? Traitor? No; I am not that mean. Not such as the council who deemed your powers to be taken in the nullification ritual. And then my dear brother was the one to do it. Tsk."

He shook his head. If no other Guardian knew of their near relationship; it was Flux. He was considered one of the elders; but he strayed away from the council. He preferred the field. He looked her over, and heard the clink of the knife earlier.

"I thought it appropriate to call you such. But now that you've given me something else to call you, I will call you that. How've you faired, since the ritual?"

He asked, curious. Those who actually went through the nullification, never returned. They were dead.

[Nzambi]

The Lupine had slipped noiselessly from the bed, landing softly on the balls of her feet while in the same motion reaching for the blaster that she'd dropped on the floor when the albino stranger brought her here.

They'd been followed - she knew it would happen - and she also knew that if she was to escape alive, she'd have to kill the Guardian that now blocked her only feasable escape route.

Lithe body rising, Nzambi stalked forward as the stranger conversed with the Guardian - she heard him speak of the woman's past, and her brows arched as she partially learned of her savior's history. It was intriguing, but still. Somthing had to be done about the Guardian who stood on the other side of the door, and Nzambi held no hesitations when it came to her own survival.

Even if it meant killing innocents. She didn't want to hurt the woman who'd saved her though - there was something odd about her, and the Lupine stayed herself this one time.

Lifting her arm, she pointed the blaster at the albino's back, cocking it with an audible whine.

"Stand aside Albino... "

[imported_Mr. Flux]

He heard the whine from the blaster and he narrowed his eyes. He looked towards hGozomi. He couldn't see the figure behind her, being so short. His small, raspy voice spoke.

"Pull that trigger, I will be forced to take action. You condemn yourself if you hurt her."

He looked to the albino woman. He smiled- he wasn't like the others. waiting for a chance to spring on a lupine. He never was. He spoke.

"Tell her."

[Nzambi]

"I'm not going to hurt her," came the return growl. The Lupine remained motionless, unmoving as - hGozomi as she called herself - stayed rooted where she was. "She helped me out of a fight with your kind; I don't like to make it a habit to cause injury to those who help me."

A quick step forward brought her right behind the albino, and Nzambi shoved her roughly to the side, levelling her blaster at the diminutive Guardian, her eyes narrowing to slits.

"With you on the other hand, I have no such restrictions."

[imported_Mr. Flux]

"Yes, you don't have those with me."

He smiled. It was eery- he would not be cowed by this woman with a blaster. He looked to hGozomi; who knew very well that Flux could've ended this fight a few moments ago- killed Nzambi and left.

A ball of energy produced from his hand. He had tapped into the force. The lupine in front of him wouldn't like that much; but he moved so quick she wouldn't have the chance. His hand collided with the blaster, electricity that he had created hitting the blaster full force.

It shorted it out, making it a useless hunk of junk. Then he grabbed it and pulled it from her hand as a light shock hit her.

"I, unlike my other bretheren, think before I act. You should as well."

[Nzambi]

The spike in the force was quick, lancing in and out of her mind like lightning, and the Lupine snarled in enraged pain as she felt the sudden desire to change well up within her.

The shock to her hand caused her to pull back as the Guardian grabbed her blaster - now useless - and her eyes flashed. Unlike the Lupine s'Ilancy, Nzambi was quick to anger and even quicker to act.

In a burst of speed she surged forward, one hand arcing outward to knock the Guardian's hat away and she other grasping for the knife that hGozomi herself had replaced back on the stand...

[hGozomi]

The shove had surprised her, but the albino caught herself, and as Flux spoke, she'd let her eyes narrow. The Lupine, she knew, would stop at nothing to not only escape, but make sure her pursuer didn't follow, and it was this knowledge that fueled her actions.

She didn't want to see Flux injured, but at the same time she didn't want the Lupine to become hurt any further, and with a quick movement she lunged, her leg knocking the stand and the knife that rested atop it, sending the weapon scattering across the floor to the other side of the room.

[imported_Mr. Flux]

Her flailing hand was easy enough to dodge; he merely ducked a bit. His actions were precise; a precision that only time can give a person. He watched her as she reached for the knife that was now across the floor. He narrowed his eyes; the eyes that showed so much age.

"Do not do this. If you start this; I will be forced to finish you."

It was obvious he was going through great lengths to not kill this person.

[Nzambi]

Casting an accusatory glance over her shoulder to the albino, Nzambi once more turned to the Guardian before her. Her eyes radiated utter malice, and the Lupine halted her movements, glaring down at the Guardian before crouching gracefully to glare at him - face to face; nose to nose.

She heard nothing from hGozomi, but felt the other woman's hand on her shoulder, ready to pull her away lest something happen.

"Finish me?" she uttered, her brows raising. Her head canted to the side. "And how many of my kind have you finished, Guardian?"

[imported_Mr. Flux]

"Enough for a time that spanss four decades."

He answered. He wasn't bragging. Not showing off to her. Not trying to threaten at all, whatsoever. He was being completely honest with a lupine who, by all intensive purposes, should be dead since she pulled her blaster.

He let his eyes- the eyes that showed aging across half a century, stare back at her own. The only part of his body that aged at all. He blinked a few times as his pale face was luminous from the light in hGozomi's room.

[hGozomi]

Her hand on the Lupine's shoulder, hGozomi watched as the two faced off, the growing sense of uneasiness in the pit of her stomach still present. Eyes watching carefully, she sidestepped, being sure to keep a hold of Nzambi incase anything happened.

She was silent though, wanting to see where this exchange would lead, though if need be, she would end it if things came to a head.

[Nzambi]

"Four decades?"

A small laugh then, and the LUpine rocked back on her heels - as if preparing for another strike. Her entire body was tense though, as her muscles bunched in anticipation. It was easy to see in her eyes, but she held herself back.

"Tell me, oh small one," she clipped, bringing a hand up to tweek his nose, "how did you defeat them? With a plastic sword and cap guns?"

[imported_Mr. Flux]

"Four decades. Ask your new found friend; I knew her for two."

His jaw clenched as she touched him, but then he smiled. She thought him to be young. Much younger than he was. He slowly moved his hand to open palm in front of her.

"Pardon the force usage; know you hate it."

He gave her a smile as electricity crackled at his palm, his right hand seemingly starting to give off a white light as sparks moved out from his hand, and then inwards. A ball started to form.

He formed it slowly- to make the animal inside writhe. To cause her pain. Then he stopped it.

[Nzambi]

She curled in on herself then, clutching her head and reeling away from him. An arm shot out to ward off the unseen force that drove into her mind, and when he stopped, a feral growl escaped her lips as she sprang for him, ignoring the albino's hand on her shoulder.

His simple action had tipped her, and Nzambi twisted her torso as she lunged for him, bringing her body in close quarters -

- one hand came up, fingers hooked like talons as they aimed for his neck, and the other rose up to ward off any counter the Guardian might have...

[hGozomi]

... and with surprising speed and grace, a single arm snaked around the Lupine's neck, reigning her in and hauling her back into the confines of the room. Despite her appearence, hGozomi held a strength that had been bred by years of survival and training - training with Lupines even.

Holding Nzambi, she brought in her lips close to the other woman's ear. "Control yourself, woman. You will die if you attack him - I will not have that, and I'm fairly sure you don't want that either."

The albino then sent an accusatory glance at Flux as she held the writhing Lupine in check.

"And you. You know better than to goad and provoke such an attack. I would have thought that you of all people would know better."

[imported_Mr. Flux]

He gave her a childish look. He shook his head as he stepped into the room.

"She asked. I showed."

He replied. He would not be leaving anytime soon. And why he hadn't killed the lupine yet? Respect for a former Guardian. Plus mindless violence never appealed to Flux.

"Anyway- You know by all purposes I should've already killed her. And you for harboring her. She showed aggression. Pity the lupine's will never learn. If only they were more peaceful."

He said as he yawned- the hour was becoming late.

[Nzambi]

The albino was strong - stronger than Nzambi had expected, and as the force seemed to ebb away, her struggles diminished as well.

"You deliberately did that," she managed to spit out, her eyes remaining narrowed. "I should rip out your throat right now for doing that."

A rough shake from hGozomi caused her to silence herself, and the Lupine fell quiet.

[hGozomi]

Her grip tightened, and hGozomi ground her teeth. It was easily apparent that Flux would not be leaving, and she let an inner sigh work its way through her body.

"What is it you want, Mr. Flux. The death of yet another Lupine?"

As Flux came more into the room, she backed away, taking Nzambi with her before releasing the other woman and placing herself between Lupine and Guardian.

[imported_Mr. Flux]

"If I wanted mindless violence it would be so. I actually came here to speak with you, Ms. I-..."

He smiled to her as he then corrected himself. He almost made a mistake about her name again.

"...hGozomi."

He looked to Nzambi with no emotion.

"I did do it on purpose; your right. But I stopped, did I not? You haven't seen the extent of what I can do. Be glad your alive. Sit. Calm down. And perhaps we can have an intelligent conversation."

He then added...

"I found that your kind can at least do that; I had one not so long ago with Ms. s'Ilancy."

[Nzambi]

Casting the albino's arm away, the Lupine simply stood, glaring down at the Guardian.

"Your kind don't talk - they butcher."

She refused to sit, only allowing her nerves to settle - his use of the force had done its job of fraying her already tense body.

[imported_Mr. Flux]

"Pot calling the kettle black."

He retorted.

[Nzambi]

"Be that as it may," she shot back, "but at least I don't actively go out and seek Guardians to kill."

She squared her shoulders. "It's almost always in self-defense."

of course, in all actuality, her conception of such was skewed, as by self-defense she meant striking first - as in her experience, in order to get the upper hand one had to gain the element of surprise and the first strike in order to escape.

[imported_Mr. Flux]

"Guardians never attack first. To do so would be forfeiting their lives."

He said; honest. He looked to hGozomi who knew of this. He looked back to Nzambi. He blinked a few times.

"If you lupines would show no aggression in the things you do; the Guardians would leave you alone. But no. It's as if you lack the right brain cells."

[Nzambi]

The Lupine held herself back. She even let out a laugh.

"Trying to incite another reaction, Guardian?"

The laugh cut off then, morphing into a vicious, gutteral growl. "I won't give you the satisfaction of a physical response."

It was strange - that even through her focus was solely on Flux, she could still hear the sigh of relief from the albino.

And oddly enough, it made her proud.

[imported_Mr. Flux]

"On the contrary- I merely gave my honest opinion."

He said to her as he remained where he was. Though things had calmed down, tension was still in the air. Any moment, Flux knew that Nzambi could change. He would kill her if she did.

"I've seen enough in my liftetime."

[Nzambi]

A quiet look of distain crossed her features only briefly, as the Lupine let her lips curl back in a semi-snarl of contempt.

"I think I've had enough of your 'honest opinions'."

She inhaled deeply, letting out slowly before standing up just a little straighter.

"I'm leaving."

[hGozomi]

hGozomi watched the exchange, slightly taken aback by Flux's patience - despite the form it took. That he hadn't killed the Lupine yet was a relief, but in her mind she knew it was only a matter of time before the two came to blows.

And she would do everything in her power to make sure that didn't happen.

At Nzambi's mention of leaving, the albino looked sharply to Flux, unsure of what the Guardian would say or do.

[imported_Mr. Flux]

Flux had found a chair across the room from where hGozomi and Nzambi were at. He looked at her as she said she was leaving. He didn't reply, merely sat in the chair and relaxed his small frame in it.

The chair was about two meters away from the door. He was not going to move.

He wouldn't attack.

[Nzambi]

Canting her head to the side, Nzambi gave him a half-hearted look - even a somewhat disappointed look... she had so hoped for a confrontation with this Guardian. To be able to bring him to Diego would have been wonderful - to see the look on her sire's face as she presented such a Guardian before him.

Just the thought made her smile, and stalking to the door, the Lupine stopped to look down at him as he sat. Her hand reached out to the doorpanel, opening it.

"I bet you taste like chicken," she smirked, letting her eyes shift colors momentarily before once more turning back to their original color.

[imported_Mr. Flux]

He turned his head to the side, to give her a look. The look simply said that they would meet again. He watched the discoloration of her eyes, and he slowly moved a small hand up, as if threatening..

...But it was no threat- nothing at all in a gesture he would attack.

He waived at her. His fingers moving back and forth.

[Nzambi]

Her features wrested themselves into a smile, and she reached out with a quick arm, slapping semi-playfully at the front brim of his hat and causing it to tip a little down into his face.

"I'll see you again, Runt."

She stepped through the doorway and into the hall. It was a less than grand exit, but in her mind she knew she'd see the Guardian again...

... and when that time came, there wouldn't be the albino to stop her.

[imported_Mr. Flux]

"Yes...I'm sure you will."

His small, raspy voice said in reply after she had left the room- which she no doubt heard him say. He looked forward to hGozomi, with a light grin on his face.

"You never answered my question- How've you been fairing since the nullification?"

[hGozomi]

There were a few moments of silence, and hGozomi slowly lowered herself to sit on the edge of the bed. The absence of the Lupine seemed to clear the tension in the air a little, but the albino knew that there was still a sense of tautness around the room - something that she could almost physically feel.

She looked at Flux from the tops of her eyes, their ghost-white irises hard-edged.

"You can see for yourself, Mr. Flux - I have survived well enough."

[imported_Mr. Flux]

"I said nothing about survival. I asked how you were fairing. This includes mentally."

He said with a smile as he leaned back in the chair and brought one of his legs to rest on his knee. He looked at her.

"And from what I've read- you've been speaking with my dear brother.."

[hGozomi]

Her eyes narrowed. "I don't believe that's any of your business," she snapped, sitting up just a little straighter.

"My affairs are my own."

Unmoving, she stared at Flux. "Now. Given that you've scared off the Lupine, what is it you want from me - I highly doubt this is anything but a social call - though in all honesty I'm surprised you didn't go after her; I half expected you would."

[imported_Mr. Flux]

"Yes, I'm sure they are."

He spoke of her affairs. He narrowed his eyes at her at her assumption of her going after Nzambi.

"And you should know me better. You of all people to naturally assume."

[hGozomi]

"I never said I assumed anything of you - I merely stated that I expected for you to give chase.

"Hunt down and stop the Lupine threat... isn't that your cause?"

[imported_Mr. Flux]

"Oh..come come. Hunt?"

He scoffed.

"You know we don't attack unless aggression is shown."

He narrowed his eyes.

"I have never hunted lupine's down. Their deaths have always been a direct cause of self defense. As it will always be. As it should be with us all."

[hGozomi]

hGozomi said nothing, simply sitting and watching the Guardian before her.

Presently, she spoke - her voice low and smooth - like silk. "You haven't told me why you are here. There is a reason, Flux," she disregarded his title, opting for a more blunt approach in order to cut to the heart of the matter, "... that you are here.

"And I want to know why that is."

[imported_Mr. Flux]

"A former guardian should never go unchecked."

He said. He narrowed his eyes.

"Do I unnerve you that much, hGozomi? Do I remind you that much of my brother?"

He asked, curious.

[hGozomi]

Ghost white eyes stared at him, seemingly picking him apart. His first words were met with a sense of apathy, though it was easy to see she let them mull over in her mind, digesting this new information.

"Unchecked? do the Guardians always keep an eye on those who were once among their ranks? I highly doubt I was anything special - which is why I ask that.

"And as to your second questions, no. you don't unnerve me. I simply feel the need to be cautious around you... even if you ar Mr. Dust's brother...

"... you're not like him in the least."

[imported_Mr. Flux]

" Yes. He only nullified your abilities. Bet that hurt."

He replied as he shook his head.

"I apologise. I shouldn't have said that. Why am I here? To tell you to not get in the way. If I were any other guardian you know you would have been killed along with the Lupine you harbored."

He spoke.

"Stay out of this conflict. This is a warning. I won't hesitate next time. If you get in the way it is a possibility you will be injured."

[hGozomi]

This time her own eyes narrowed. "Stooping to low blows, are we? What have the Guardians come to, that they must lower themselves to such a level?"

She stood then, glaring down at Flux. "And as far as my "interference", I have no plans whatsoever to stop helping the Lupines. You know that as well as I do. If I become injured or die even, then very well. I died for a reason.

"And not hesitate? I'm surprised even you held yourself back. You used to never be as such."

[imported_Mr. Flux]

"I was young."

His small voice replied. He watched her, indifference on his face. It's true. When he held no holds barred against lupine's, he had been many years younger. He had been rumored to have been the best cleanser..

He looked to her.

"Things change with the passage of time."

[Nzambi]

It was strange how things seemed to time themselves - how actions sometimes perfectly followed words.

Such was the case now, as just when Mr. Flux had uttered his last word, the door was flung open courtesy of a booted foot, and faster than was expected, a hand reached in.

Fingers grasped the neckline of Mr. Flux's shirt and coat, and he was unceremoniously pulled from his seat - out into the hall, and against the far wall.

And standing over him, her eyes flashing in rage, was Nzambi. She had gone against her better judgement, decided to go back to the hotel room to have it out with the Guardian - though, in a sense, it was a form of retribution for the attack on her earlier...

... a sense of revenge for what had happened before.

"I decided to have dinner early," she growled, raising an arm to strike him across the face.

[imported_Mr. Flux]

He lay motionless for a few moments as he looked up to her, shaking his head. He narrowed his eyes- he couldn't too much physical abuse, but he couldn't let her know that.

It was a disadvantage at his size. He looked up to her as he rolled to the left and quickly got to his feet.

He withdrew the small cylindrical lightsaber hilt, as he held it, and waited.

"And now- You will be finished, lupine!"

The small blue blade ignited.

[Nzambi]

continued here (http://69.56.186.201/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32925)