2009-01-09 - Market Mirth

Tatooine: Mos Eisley
A large, sprawling series of plastoid and concrete structures stretch away as far as the eye can see. Here in the main thoroughfare the streets have been widened to allow various skimmers and beasts to pass through; side-streets opening up here and there to admit their owners. The buildings before you are short and stocky, but behind them rise a few domes and minaret shaped towers, encircling the main square and reminding one that Mos Eisley is more than just a few old blockhouses squatting in the desert.
All around are doors and alleys of varying shapes and sizes, but most notable among them is the arch-shaped portal that fronts the Spaceport; a long tunnel winding away to an enormous hanger area a few streets away. Nearby a pair of reinforced swing doors seem to lead underground and above them a sandworn sign indicates that refreshments are available within. On the opposite side of the street a wide alley opens up, and the sounds of haggling and trading make themselves known from what appears to be a market.
SOCIAL: Caton begins to perform for Ragtag Spacers: 
          "Stop right there!" Some large thugs cry out, and begin chasing Caton through the streets. He unhooks his repeater and shoots the reigns off of a tied up bantha while on the run, causing it to rampage toward the pursuers and chase them out of town and into the deserts. Caton makes funny faces and provokes them until they are out of sight.
          Ragtag Spacers barely seems to respond to Caton's performance.
          Even before Caton has finished, the people of Ragtag Spacers talk unrelated business among themselves. 
          Slim applauds politely.
          Caton dusts his hands off, though it's a failed gesture when on Tatooine. Any sand or dirt brushed off would only return sooner than later. When he hears Slims applause he bows a bit, "Bunch of pushovers." He dismisses, with a smirk.
          Slim comes up to Caton and slaps him on the shoulder. "I was impressed. You're getting better."
          The mercenary grins, reslinging his blaster and adjusting the strap with his good hand proudly. "I've been practicing." He confesses, faux modestly. The traffic of Mos Eisley resumed not seconds after the bantha had left, already covering its huge tracks with new ones.
          Slim nods as he grips his own blaster under his robe. "Anything going on? I passed though here awhile ago and saw a lot of people."
          "I'm not sure." Caton says, turning his attention to his friend with some skepticism. "This big beast came up to me yesterday, preaching about some peace core protecting tatooine. I guess the Headwoman took action already."
          Slim nods and then folds his across his chest with authority. "You're from Mos Eisley? What do you know of the Headwoman?"
          Caton shrugs. "Just what I've heard. She's a tough lady, trying to turn the place around. I don't see much point to it, people do what they want." He looks to the blockhouse as he speaks, then asides. "What's on your mind, Slim?"
          Slim follows Caton's look at the blockhouse. "The moisture farms. I need to be getting back to Anchorhead sooner or later. I'd hate to take back bad news to my brother if there is anything I can do to help it. My brother and I, we're sharecroppers. And now that Tatooine owns the farms directly, he's got his eye on some land."
          "Looking to make a profit, huh." Caton figures, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "You might try talking to her yourself." He ventures, turning his head to the fellow native. "She'd probably listen to you."
          "Me? No. I'm handy with vaporators and I can do some programming if I have to. But I have other things in mind." As he says this, Slim unconsciously looks up at the sky. But then he looks at Caton and shakes his head. "I have and she said Tatooine is unwilling to sell. I was just wondering if I there was something I could do before giving it another go."
          Caton scratches at the back of his head, consciously going over the options. Shoot her? No. Wouldn't work. Pay her off? No, she's rich. Shoot her? "I don't know." He admits, outloud. "I think they're looking for people to help them defend this crater. Maybe she'll cut you a deal for some reckless endangerment."
          Slim nods his head slowly. "I suppose so. I'm no good with a blaster though. Not on your level anyway." The young man sighs. "I think I'll try to make it back to Anchorhead, consult with my brother, regroup. That kind of thing. I'm sure he's hurting for the creds I collected from the bank for us."
          A young mercenary dressed in a blue breastplate stands with another young man, natively dressed, in the streets. They speak at average volume and are looking towards the blockhouse. "Not doing so well?" The mercenary, Caton, wonders at his friend.
          "Just fine actually. But someone has to come into Mos Eisley once in awhile to collect pay. Ussually me." Slim laughs. "But I don't mind. For me, Mos Eisley might as well be one of the Core worlds."
          Kalira emerges from the block house, pausing just outside the entrance to tilts her head back and squint up at the sky, attempting to discern the time of day. One of her aides is giving her a run down of the most recent daily news, half of which is gleaned from semi-reliable gossip while the other half of the news is what's gleaned from GNN, which is sort of semi-reliable at best.
          From the spaceport comes El Commandante Akurel Durandal, complete with desert robes and a wide brimmed hat that looks suspiciously like what one might call a sombrero. The heat, that is fine...but so much light beating on thos amber eyes! In the square, he makes a few passing remarks to his followers that intermix with the TDF proper, and checks with the tanks crew to insure the old gun is up and working. Oh there shall be more, soon...a proper army to bring proper order to the desert.
          Oh, the little things could be let go, but there were just some things that the farm folks and the sparse handful of honest folk on Mos Eisley should not have to tolerate.
          Caton shakes his head. "You need to get out more. One of these days I'll take you to Nar Shaddaa." He muses, thinking of his second homeworld by choice. "Hey, look." He says, noticing Kalira exiting the blockhouse and then the furry tank rolling in from the spaceport.
          Slim glances in Kalira's and then Akurel's direction. "Well now... Nar Shaddaa? The Smuggler's Moon? Isn't that supposed to be worse than Mos Eisley? Hutts live there, right?"
          Kalira makes a low sound, almost a murmur of disquiet before she says, "Falleens with bombs, I didn't think that was proper dress code to address the senate," she says in a quiet voice to the aide relaying the most recent news blurbs. She shades her eyes with one hand before sweeping the market place with a slow glance, spotting her tall Whiphid friend making his way through the market. Her gaze sweeps around next and notes the dark haired young man from the day prior and the young man he's speaking too.
          And now, finally, the strange shaman girl comes walking along. She has a more haunted look to her. "The darkness comes to a room bigger than a giant cavern." Safa says loudly - though it still seems to have that quiet, airy edge even like that. Then again, the people around her don't seem to be very pleased with the crazy desert girl either.
          Akurel arches an eyebrow at the newspaper Kalira is reading. "At this rate, I may actually prefer being a frontier marshall. Less chance of being so much meat across the Senate floor. Yes, I think I shall stick to fixing worlds and shooting those who try and break my sand castles. I grow tired of Core World intrigues..." He chuckles low, spying the gathering storm of farmboy, mercenary, and mystic. He's said more than a few cryptic things as a preacher, but at least he very clearly said which folks would burn and which would not.
          "Seems Tatooine may yet become the strongest independent force in the Rim, with Frashkart gone and Nar Shaddaa subjugated. A peculiar situation indeed." The behemoth muses.
          "It's great." Caton says, with a childish grin. "Not as good as it used to be. But you can do whatever you want there, if you're smart." He explains, then playfully shoves Slim. "Hey, that's the Headwoman!"
          A sidelong glance is given to Safa as she is seen coming. The mercenary shakes his head and mutters, "Crazier than a bag of hydrospanners."
          Slim's face reddens and turns around to glare at Caton. "Like I said, I'm going home. Another time."
          Kalira taps the written missive that holds some of the data that her aid doesn't relay aloud, "curiouser and curiouser," she muses and spots the slender form of the robed girl making her way into the market as well. She offers a subtle smile of greeting in that direction before turning her glance upwards (tilting her head as well, of course, to accomplish this), "well now, my friend, never underestimate the sense of humor of the universe. It is, after all, to laugh. is it not?" she asks. "And I rather find the notion of making Tatooine strong, independent, secure and reviving the first hints of civilization and civil society back into the daily culture as a whole."
          Perhaps the bells in her hair, on her staff, and hanging from her belt are to warn people that crazy is coming? Perhaps! Craziness is crazy like that after all. But right now, Safa begins to walk over towards Kalira. "Lady of the Desert." She says, pausing in front of her. "The darkness of this place is gone, and I can emerge from the distant places. Perhaps to clear the morning's fog and bring a new light." She leans on the stick and looks up towards Kalira. And then towards Akurel beside her.
          Kalira gives a incline of her head to the robed young woman, a somber nod really, "Darkness, after all, is just an illusion. A temporary thing that, if one is patient and willing to endure, soon passes. I am most glad to see that you are well, and finding your visit to our Desert to be a rewarding one."
          "Okay, okay." Caton says, hands thrown up in surrender at his friend. "Hey, let me ask you something." He says, changing the subject. "Do you know anything about that hermit there?" The mercenary shifts his attention to the wandering robed lady.
          Slim gives the shaman girl a good look. "No. I've never seen her before yesterday. Maybe an ex-slave? Got loose from somebody? That'd be my guess."
          "Pray that blessed day comes soon, little sister. Though we must remember to show humility, for miracles are not so common that we should expect that they will come at our bidding." Akurel replies gently, adjusting his sombrero to deflect the most light. His shouldered carbine moves a bit as if to protest, but acquiesces to the wishes of its wielder.
          "One of these days you are going to wake up with a powerful army and a stable economy, and then we shall have to answer the truest questions of the age."
          Kalira rubs at the back of her neck with one hand, idly lifting her gaze from the young woman and peers upwards again towards the sky, "though I do suppose that we live here long enough, we're not really visitors. Home is where the heart is, after all, and my home and heart is here," she muses aloud before falling silent to listen to Akurel's words and she shakes her head slightly. "I'm a physician, my friend, we're not supposed to be humble. Surgeons are supposed to be arrogant and confident and self assured and.. all manner of annoying things," she informs Akurel with a faint smile on her face. "And when that day comes.. we will sell tickets to the debates that we shall have. grand debates, in fact," she clarifies. "My young friend and I," she tilts her head towards Safa, "will challenge you on every twist and turn."
          "The darkness already lifted from the planet, and made it safer." Safa says. "Thank you, Lady of the Desert." Safa says, bowing her head in an almost graceful way that causes a rattle of the charms braided in her hair. "The desert here is as beautful as the deserts of far away. More crowded. So many people in this village. It is very noisy and sometimes far from the desert even though it is." A look up, "And so many vessels of the desert of the sky." She looks up as she says that, causing her hood to fall back and reveal her face and long hair. Though she doesn't replace it. And her gaze again casts between Kalira and Akurel, feigning confusion at Kalira.
          Caton watches the three from his place in the streets, examining what he can see of the shamans young face. Suddenly breaking from this, he turns to Slim. "They talk alot, huh." He notes.
          "I preferred last nights argument. Turbolasers tend to make many arguments simpler in this era. Far too many only listen to such displays, and I do confess a certain...enjoyment at burning through the shields of those that would threaten innocent traders." The Whiphid chuckles, signing himself as great shoulders roll back.
          "The desert is in our souls, little sister. The determination to survive and thrive in a hostile galaxy. The eternal search for water, for food, for safety. But soft, the young men look at my pretty companions, and it would be remiss of this old fellow to hoard such beauties! Come, brothers, or are you incapable of all but looking!"
          Akurel seems happy now with the angling of his sombrero, and dark amber eyes glint with only barely disguised laughter
          Slim starts to laugh at Caton but is caught short by Akurel. "I think he's talking to us? Hard to say though."
          "He looks hungry." Caton jokes, hiding his own wariness of the huge whiphid by calling out Slims, if there was any. "You go first, I'll cover you. We both know I'm the better shot, anyway."
          Kalira makes a sound that's almost a strangled sort of choked laughter, "beauties" she mouths the word silently and eyes Akurel and says, "My friend, is it possible that you're suffering from a heat stroke? You may need more than a broad brimmed hat. Have you considered a prudent .. over all.. well.. maybe a closer cut?" she asks in a tactful voice. "I don't want you dropping from heat exhaustion."
          Akurel wordlessly pushes both girls towards the young men, and saunters off to chat with his soldiers. In the absence of their own personal lechery, old men must guide the younger generations bawdy nature. "Isn't this what you humans do? Now talk! Laugh! Make babies!" He says with cheerful encouragement. Fortunately, the Whiphid is within three steps of his armored assault vehicle, and his men might protect him...if they were not so busy laughing.
          Slim crosses his arms again and tries not to die. "Girls aren't exactly my forte. Caton, you better handle this."
          "Eep!" Comes the shamanic girl's squeek as she is suddenly pushed towards the boys, and the part about babies? Turns even her own cheeks to go red as can be. Blink, blink, catch herself from falling with her staff to hold her up. Safa looks over towards Kalira, as though for guidance. "The large one's the source of the desert's own east wind."
          Kalira reaches out a hand to catch Safa's elbow and says, "Um.. well.." and she clears her throat and manages (somehow) to choke back the laughter that bubbles up and makes her eyes sparkle with amusement. "He is, well, opinionated. I'm fairly certain one of the tenets of his religion is to .. um.. well encourage the youth of the generation to marry accordingly and have many children to raise up and eventually marry other's to have children to keep doing the same general.. edict. I think. I'm sure he's.. just.. um .. imparting his particular flavor of.. encouragement," she stumbles a bit through her assessment - mainly because, again, she's fighting hard not to laugh.
          "Two of each kind, so sayeth the Lord." The preacher says in soothing encouragement. "After all, you did say that I should observe discretion. If I am not to challenge and shake the foundations of the galaxy, I shall be entertained. Dynastic marriages and the production of Tatooine's next generation of leadership seems a prime use of my time." The Grand Marshall of Tatooine replies as if he has done absolutely nothing wrong. He pats his tank reassuringly, and his soldiers hum...very badly is should be noted, an improvised wedding march.
          "Ehhh." Caton throws a handed gesture discardingly at the whiphid, turning his attention towards the women. "Ladies." He says, putting his bad hand behind his back as he bows his most gentlemanly bow. "How do the deserts find you today?"
          Safa is still blushing. A lot. Fortunately, hoods are good for that! And a hand moves to reach back and pull it up, and tug on it to cover as much of her face as possible. "Babies for those who are still children is not good." She says with a sagely looking nod, this time, the hood a least adds to the effect. If only by making it easier to forget it's a crazy teenaged girl doing the gesture. And then, a glance towards Caton. "The sun beats down and bakes the ground. But my feet are covered." She says, cryptically.
          Slim gives Caton a 'what the ... are you doing' look and grins at Kalira and Safa.
          "Ma'ams?"
          Late afternoon sunshine is no less hot on Tatooine, and Serena Fox, returning to the great, dusty outdoors after having caught some sleep on her ship earlier. Dust swirls by her as the dark haired woman strolls back to the market place, and her cool blue eyes sweep from one being to the next very relaxed, but cautious none the less as she approaches. Pausing by one of the seller's stands, she smirks, listening to the conversation as it flows. For now, she does not come any closer.
          Kalira aims a look at Akurel and then at his soldiers that, if it were properly weaponized, would be a very dangerous weapon indeed. instead, it's.. well.. it's just a look. She turns her attention back to the young men who have been 'drafted' by the large and vocal Whiphid, "Please accept my apologies," she offers aloud. "My friend, and our good Commander Akurel, seems to have quite the sense of humor and.. the best of intentions, of course," again that look aimed at Akurel before turning back. "I hope that the heat of the day is not too taxing for either of you," she adds, giving both young men a rather careful once-over look (though, from her, it's the sort of look that a physician uses to visually assess a patient before triage, after all she IS a doctor), and in the doing she spots the arrival of a dark haired woman joining the light crowd that braves the market place at this time and heat of the day.
          Caton raises his eyebrows blankly at the hooded girl, sharing a look with Slim. He turns back and smiles, trying to figure out what to say. "It's a good thing you're wearing boots then." He replies, looking down at her feet briefly.
          "That is what matchmaking is for, little sister. No one said you had to consummate the union immediately, but surely these gentlemen are young, handsome, and have good futures ahead of them. Promising stock, if I do say so myself." Akurel says sagely and gentlemanly. Still though, the look he gives the two pairs of humans is as if they are rabbits of which he is uncertain which diet and bedding shall produce the desired result. The way the boys are acting, however, gives the esteemed Lord Sombrero, matchmaker of Tatooine, little hope.
          "Do not act so surprised. On my world, marriages between tribes can be made when both partners are still in the womb! You both have had decades to sow your oats." As if their being single was as a tootache, to be corrected as soon as possible.
          "I'm going to Anchorhead....." is all Slim can manage in reply to Akurel as he backs away. "Caton, I'm sure our paths will cross again sooner or later. Send me a holocard."
          A hand rises to cover her mouth as Safa starts to giggle, an all too prim and proper sort of gesture from the young girl - especially as strange as she is. Almost as though she were from some noble court. Though that would be hard to reconcile given the rest of her garb. And lunacy. So it just makes her look even more quirky. Then? She says, "A new light brightens and approaches. Though the sun may set soon and the desert is much prettier to watch such. It would be good for all to see it. With food."
          "Stay safe." Caton replies instantly, turning to see his sandbrother off. "Let me know if you need someone to watch your back." He offers, again, stone-faced. Then, turning back, he nods to Safa. "Sounds like fun."
          Kalira claps her hands briefly as she says, "Capital idea, my friend. Food. We should get some food, then find a good vantage point near one of the canyons and watch the suns setting. They're quite lovely," she remarks, as though this is news. "And... Commander Akurel, this is Tatooine. We don't do arranged marriages, in the womb or out of it, in fact. We're more.. egalitarian with regard to how a match is made. Plus, you are operating under the presumption that neither i, nor my friend here, already have other interests."
          "Love and marriage," Serena smirks a bit, eying a piece of blown glass which she picks up and holds at an angle to the sun so that in little time at all, the piercing speck of light focuses in on a scrap of canvas-like cloth on the ground. In next to no time, it begins to smoulder and smoke, much to her delight. However, lowering the glass, she strolls over and grinds it out with a tap of her boot as Slim makes his exit. "Never thought Tatooine was the place to come to find a matchmaker." The young woman observes as she comes near the others now, amusement. The gaze drifts to Kalira then: "I'm glad to hear it /ain't/ necesserily so."
          Slimn nods to Caton and holds up a hand in farewell to Kalira, Safa, and the others. "You have my congratulations... just in case."
          "It's one of the newest features," Kalira offers aloud in return, then gives in and laughs quietly, blue eyes creasing faintly into amused gleaming triangles of cobalt. She lifts one hand to wave to the young man who's escaping the conversation as tactfully and swiftly as possible.
          Akurel looks at Kalira as if this is the stupidest thing he has ever heard, but he lets it go. For now. It is simply a matter of observing the Headwomans tastes and....steering her appropriately. So wise, and yet so silly. What Tatooine needs is to remember the importance of Traditioooooooooooooooooooon! Tradition! That being said, Akurel is hungry, and can suppress his designs. "Indeed. Perhaps the lack of food has made me...silly.
          The wave, however, does not go unnoticed and a little smile crosses the Whiphids face. Maybe not THAT young man, but a young man nonetheless.
          Head tilting to the side as Slim prepares to leave. "Desert's blessings and a beautiful night upon you." Safa says to Slim as he takes his leave from the group before saying. "There is much good in the market. Food that smells wonderful. There is meat on sticks and it is wonderful." Safa says as she starts to walk towards one of said stands. "And on the high dunes as we watch the suns set and the colors dance, there will be peace."
          "Bah." Caton returns, at Slims farewell. He pulls on the clothes around his neck as they seem to get tighter for some reason. "Great, the big guy is hungry. Let's roast a bantha to stave him off, before he looks for the other white meat."
          "Silly, yes, and a trifle irreverent too, I think," Kalira says and she laughs again for a few moments, simply delighted by the sheer amusement factor of the line of dialogue. "Come then, lets get you something to eat before you perish from starvation," she says to Akurel. A bantha might not be a bad idea.. for an appetizer," and by golly she makes a joke as well. That same grin is aimed towards Safa as she says next, "We'll get him some snacks to keep him from chewing on the furniture.. or marrying any of us off to the first profitable looking merchant that offers him free food for life."
          Laughter escapes Serena at Caton's comment directed at the giant, hulking whiphid when he states that he's hungry. Hooking her thumbs over the edge of her dangerously tight pants, she tilts her head to the side a little and seems to size up the preacher/matchmaker. "Looks like he Could eat a whole bantha, yea?" She pauses and looks to Kalira, pointing her chin in the whiphid's direction: "Is he /always/ like that?" Laughter still seems to glimmer in the tough looking woman's eyes just now.
          "In the desert they would not marry one off who is touched." Safa says with a strange sort of tone, even for her. Still, even the crazy shaman girl is squirming a bit with the even more insane whipids prods for marriages! She stops before one of the stands, "The meat here beckons that it is best to eat." She says, looking back to her companions even as the storekeeper looks a bit confused, but ready to say, "Yes! It does, best meat here!" Quick to make a sale.
          "Well.. this seems to be a new development," Kalira admits in reply to the dark-haired woman's question then extends one hand towards the young woman, "I'm Kalira, by the way. welcome to tatooine," she offers aloud with a wry sort of smile.
          Akurel again dismisses the young folk because they are silly. Papa knows best for these wayward maidens, that is all there is to it. Besides, if one can direct turbolasers and hundreds and thousands of soldiers, young girls should be of no concern to one with Gods Favor and a little skill. "Half bantha. Need to watch my blood sugar. I would so love to have a proper greenhouse built, maybe some native fruits and vegetables perhaps." The Whiphid says almost longingly.
          Caton finds his way over to the storekeeper and examines the meat. "Alright." He says, agreeably. "Give us some of that." His good hand places a credchip on the stand, enough to pay for everybody. Except maybe Akurel. "Better hope she likes it at those prices." The mercenary mutters.
          Serena slips her hand into Kalira's and nods with a smile: "Serena Fox. I met that one," She nods in Safa's direction, "Earlier today just after I landed here and got a mechanic to agree to fix up my ship. Thought I'd spend a day...ain't half bad after all." She pauses, glancing out toward the setting suns as they grow nearer and nearer to the horizon. Glancing at the man buying meat, she chuckles, "Sorry if I seem a little awkward around here. I don't light anyplace much or for long. Not used to being around so many people I guess."
          "I am Safa." The girl suddenly says, despite no one asking for her own name. Then? A wonderful kebab to eat and the girl takes it with a wide grin from Caton. "Thank you!" She says, and bites into it rather voraciously before looking to the other women, and then the Whibid. "Now, sustenance of the desert's bounty is ours. We should find our place to watch the suns' respite begin!" She uses her other hand - the one holding her staff, to bang it down, causing a ringing from the bells and clanging of the other charms on it.
          Kalira exchanges a brief, albeit firm, handclasp with Serena before releasing the offered hand and says, "Nice to meet you then, Ms Fox," in return. "If you think this is crowded, then you probably would not like the Moonlight Market," she advises. "Due to the heat of the day, most of the real market doesn't pick up until moon rise. With the increased security," and she nods towards the soldiers visibly and actively patrolling the area - not just the market - "the increase in vendors setting up stalls, and the increase in revenue, has been a marked improvement. You may not like the volume of people, but it is worth visiting. If just the once," she promises.
          "Caton Cass." The young mercenary returns evenly. He moves to join the others, meatkebab in his good hand. "The food is over there. Better get there before he does." He says, eyeing Akurel, and then taking a moment to profile Serena.
          Akurel tears into a delicious, nutritious, properly sized...ration pack. Not all that hungry, in truth, and he will not eat such fine krayt roadkill while his men are on duty. "Or wear proper headgear. Sunburns are a fact of life here without protection, if you want to walk in the daylight. If he is knowledgeable about Caton's comments about his size and weight, he is unconcerned. He is rather thin and lanky for his species, and was not the fat kid on the hunt. "Indeed. A fine idea Ms. Safa."
          Another bites of the meat, it's like the girl is starving or something. Though... a quick glance wouldn't make her look like she's so. She's waifish, but by no means malnourished. Another banging of her staff on the ground. "The discs sink and beauty fades to a different sort as night draws near and moons begin to glow. We should not tarry lest we miss perfect beauty." A glance over at Caton then.
          Caton looks briefly at the shaman girl and then consults the rest of the group. "I think she means if we don't hurry we'll miss the sunset." He figures, much more bluntly, and gestures with an arm to Safa. "Ladies first."
          Chuckling as her hand withdraws from Kalira's, she grins: "I've been here before - sure I'll come again. This just ain't one of my usual stops." Stepping back, she surveys the scene once more, curiously.
          "I'm game for a walk in the dunes," Serena smirks after Safa's comment about the sunsets, glancing around at the group gathered there as if to say: "We heading out?" Being the stranger in this instance it hardly seems right to take a leading role.
          "It looks like we are," Kalira confirms with another nod. She makes a subtle gesture with one hand to alert her people that they're heading out towards the dunes and her men link up with Akurel's and will arrive before any of their party do. "Come," she says with a smile and taps Akurel lightly on the arm, "walk with me, Commander, and we will all go observe the sun set," before she heads towards the main throughfare that leads out of town.
Tatooine: Desert Plains - Near Mos Eisley
A long, sweeping plain of sand and dust confronts you - barren dunes stretching out southwards into the deeper desert. To the east a ridge of sun-bleached rock bars your progress as it slopes down into the wasteland, and any sand trails leading that way are thin and near-blown away by recent winds. Westward lies a flat and featurless landscape, though on the horizon can be seen the distant rumour of mountains, whilst in the north the towers and rings of Mos Eisley shimmer as the sun reflect off their white and tan walls. There is a trail south also, that winds down into the dunes and is soon lost to view; though a little way off a spire of rock rises up from the sand.
          If Akurel is dissapointed the humans have not spontaneously divided, he bears it admirably and marches out onto the plains to observe the setting of the sun. In armor and sombrero, his desert robe vaguely looking like a pancho, he looks like some stylized banta herder from the holovids, and falls into step with his commander. "Another day Tatooine shall see, future model for all the Rim. The desert cities shall shine, and the innocent shall be unscathed by their brilliance." He says quietly.
          Late afternoon is steadily easing towards the first of a pair of brilliant sunsets that will soon paint the sands in a brilliant dance of sunlight and shadows. Kalira leads the way south towards one of the rocky outcroppings that she's used before to do this self-same thing: enjoy the sunsets. The soldiers that patrol the area are a visible presence, a tangible reminder of the increased security to the planet over all. "Here we are," she says once they all arrive, nodding to Akurel and she adds in a murmur, "the long sands are beautiful, and it is a harsh beauty that demands nothing less than intelligence, determination, cunning and bone deep determination to survive. Beauty, soft beauty, is found on other worlds. Here.. it is beauty as it's purest form, distilled into it's cleanest lines."
          As the desert girl walks out with the others into the dunes, and once they reach their goal, she suddenly jabs her staff into the ground and takes out some mirrors and candles from her robes and sets them up in a seemingly random pattern. Though not lighting the candles. "Come, sit." She beckones around herself as she does, crosslegged and pulling her hood back to look out towards the suns as they descend.
          "I didn't know you needed all that stuff to watch the sun." Caton says, as he approaches the weird pattern and sits near Safa. "I must have been doing it wrong." He wonders, as he follows the common gaze. Though the mercenary doesn't have any pretty words to spare.
          Serena follows the leaders out into the desert, her boots scarcely making any tracks on the sand. When they come to a stop, for a time, the dark haired woman who dropped mysteriously out of the sky and into Mos Eisley just stands there, gazing at the suns and reflecting their glow, coat tails fluttering behind her slightly. When Safa motions for them to sit, she slowly lowers herself onto the sand beside her as well as Caton, careful to imitate the mystic's form of sitting. "Seen almost every kinda sunset in the galaxy...gotta say this one's a gem."
          "Its something. Especially when you don't need to fear the dark." Akurel exhales, the sound of his breath a low, cavernous melody in contrast the the deep broach of his words. He still stands though, looking all forlorn and such, as if searching for something within the sands. A bit of that peace that all beings seek, perhaps? Maybe a shred of the divine.
          Kalira takes a seat in the sand near Safa as well, settling her lightweight cloak around her shoulders to ward off the fading glare of the sunlight and rests her hands on her knees while facing the setting suns. "We think it is, at least," she agrees aloud with Serena, casting a smile towards Caton and Safa and up towards Akurel as the tall Whiphid stands witness to the setting of the suns.
          Safa looks quite sane, and quite enamoured by the sun as she sits there. Watching the sun. "Without the sun's light. There is no concept of night's dark." She says offhandedly. "And without it's heat, there is no concept of there being cold." A hand picks up some sand and lets it sift back down to the ground. "The mirrors watch the sun too, reflect it's beauty. And the candles? They will add light after the sun is gone. Together with the mirrors, it will be tiny suns for a time as we see the stars." She sighs wistfully. "The sun over the dunes reflects a myriad colors. And two suns reflects even more. Twilight is the most lovely of all times." Her love of the time obvious. "Breath in, and out. Take this perfect moment and make it last forever even as the instant passes."
          "I guess it's alright." Caton says, offhandedly. His voice is heavy with the sight before him, though, and he can't help but enjoy this golden moment with his friends that will never fade in their minds.
          Serena gazes up beyond the golden-red orbs of fire that sink below the horizon, ever nearing the end of the hot day. Her cold gaze drifts upward into the open, dark blue above them in the great dome of sky and she focuses in on a single glittering star. It hangs solitary like a daimond, growing brighter with each passing moment. And tough as she seems, the young woman almost seems to struggle a moment to keep the hardness in her gaze. Perhaps it is just the strange, surreal peace and beauty of the moment that has carried her away to some better point of her own nature. Who knows?
          Akurel drops to his knees, head lowed and hands outstretched. Prostration perhaps, or maybe hearing a call to prayer that only he can hear. The hat makes this an awkward pose, but somehow being eight feet tall and massive does not prevent the gestrure from being as elegant it will get. Which all told, ain't half bad. "Heavens grace, Lords Mercy." 
          The first of the setting suns graces the horizon with a riot of colors, the sand seeming to catch afire from the light that dances and scintillates in a fiery blaze. A warm gust of wind drifts along the sand, carrying with it the taste of the desert and the promise of cool air to follow the setting of the suns. Sunset is, by no means, a swift process or a quick progression of time, by as the sun sets and the planet turns slowly on it's axis, the heat of the long day begins to abate steadily. Once the first sun eases below the horizon the second of the twin suns starts it's descent, stars gleaming faintly in the sky to the east, the ghostly outlines of the moons beginning to rise to take the place of the suns for their perpetual watch.
          Safa is quiet as this happens, looking around and a soft smile on her face as she sees everyone else's reaction to this. She reaches up with her fingers to comb at her bangs and looks back out to the horizon, taking a deep breath of that cool air. Letting it pass into her. Only as the final edge of the second sun's disc ducks below the horizon does she finally break the silence. "Outside, alone on the dunes. Or with friends, this moment is perfection incarnate. There is no need to strive for perfection, to do so insults the Universe. That was perfection. Alone, alone we can let everything else pass through us but the moments of beauty we can find." She starts to light the candles now. "And now as the stars flicker out and the air cools, there is a new form of perfection. The eery quiet of night. Some will sleep, and other creatures rise. But it remains. Perfection."
          Akurel meanwhile cracks open a bottle of beer and takes a swig, then hands it to the next person along. Nothing makes memory like the consumption of alcohol. Once he finishes his prayers, he stands with his sweet hat, his sweet beer, and frickin' sweet company. Things are pretty damn good, as far as the Whiphid Papa plans, even if the family is sort of hastily improvised. Good kids, all of them...maybe the universe isn't as stupid as the preacher thought.
          "Yeah, the galaxy is pretty well put together." Caton agrees, piping up from his long stare into the desert horizon. Always looking for something in the sands there. "Those senator people should just hold meetings here, then nobody would argue." He figures out everybody's problems, as simple as that. Really, it was. Meat on a stick still hangs idly in his hand, forgotten.
          Somehow the bottle of beer ends up in Serena's hand after Akurel passes it off, and she looks down at it rather skeptically, moonlight glinting off of it now. Safa's words sink in slowly, and the young woman seems to rise quite abruptly to her feet, brushing off the sand. She passes near Caton and tosses the bottle to him with a grin as she begins to head back toward "civilization" and away from this, seemingly. Wherever she came from, wherever she's going - this short time spent with the others in the desert is something she will never forget, and it has left her with a great deal to think about as she walks.
Category:January 2009 RP Logs