Ask Because you owe me...

[Maeve]

He still owed her something- that was something Maeve didn't just forget like that. Despite their admittedly heated, pleasing encounter, Maeve had never fully forgotten that the colorful haired Mandalorian had snatched her bounty and she had even delivered his ass to the contractor. He had repaid parts, but it wasn't all, so it was only fair she could count on his weapons now...

The job was promising: Someone had posted a huge reward and Maeve had perhaps been the first who had caught wind of it. In the little town she had passed she had found a literal handwritten contract of the so called "beast" that needed to be hunted down pinned on a wooden board in the village's square. It's current location was unknown, but the little village was nestled right next to the thick jungle and when she had grabbed a mead last night, she had overhead a conversation of two villagers where one had at least claimed he had spotted the massive monster somewhere in the jungle.

As the two were drunk, she didn't blindly trust them. Still, it was a first trace and so Maeve had ordered Jace to meet her the next morning. She had informed hm to bring everything he had that might help during a hunt, while she had 'borrowed' a hunting rifle, packed her blaster, her Knives and Vibro-Daggers, a selection of poisons, sedatives, and grenades and most importantly: some supplies like water and ration packs, just like a tent that would at least offer some protection.

The survival gear was stuffed into a large backpack and she was hoping he'd just carry it for her, otherwise she'd carry the massive backpack herself. She actually preferred traveling lightly, but assuming he was more experienced with hunting, she had planned to ask for his opinion before leaving. Right now though, she was expectantly waiting for him to join her, wondering where this interesting contract would take them.

@Sreeya

 

[Jace Kryze]

Despite being a walking tank, Jace was often asked to partake in hunting and stealth missions. He had given up on trying to convince people he wasn’t the right guy for the job. This is exactly why he found himself thudding through the forest towards where Riva had asked him to meet her. Not the type to give a shit about the environment, he casually smoked his e-cig through his helmet as he plodded his way over. He had his own gear mounted on his shoulders, along with his complete beskar’gam and his weapons.

Jace blew out a cloud of strawberry flavored smoke as he spotted her, grinning beneath the helmet, “Miss me already?” He quipped as he approached. When he heard about the reward amount, he knew he was going to take up the job at once. He wasn’t sure how a backwater planet like this accumulated such funds, but they must have been really desperate.

He spotted her oversized backpack, of course, and he did nothing about it for now. As a Mandalorian, he didn’t treat women as helpless. Unless she asked, he would make no effort to hoist her gear.

“Between the two of us, we should have more than enough supplies for the hunt,” He said as he started walking, “I even brought my vibroknife,” He added with a snicker.

@LadyRen

 

[Maeve]

When he approached her, it was a cloud of strawberry that surrounding him. "Mhh...fruity. Very hardcore", she threw him a smirk, before she teasingly added, "some of your talents for sure...". If she hadn't been certain about them getting some more time together during this field trip, she would invited him earlier for sure.

"Are you down for such a hunt? Wasn't sure whether this was fully up your alley, but I figured extra firepower never does any harm and you're surely resourceful", she gave him a wink before her gaze drifted towards the backpack. "Do you think traveling lightly make more sense?", she cocked her head to the side before she shouldered the backpack for now.

"This is what you say now...who knows what we're dealing with..and who knows how long we'll be out. Are you for this journey?", she threw him a challenging, playful grin as she started falling into step next to him. The backpack wasn't super heavy, but the huge bag gave off a hilarious scene, given that it literally towered above her.

"Haven't seen you in a while, got into more bounty hunting trouble?", she then curiously asked as she headed for the first path that led them right into the jungle. The air was humid and relatively warm, so the first thing she did was putting her hair up in a messy bun while she attentively glanced around.

@Sreeya

 

[Jace Kryze]

As Riva asked him multiple times if he was up for the journey, he slowly crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head, “Are you up for it?” He asked with a smirk behind the helmet. They had no real idea what the beast was or how long it would take to track it. Multiple parties had gone ahead and failed to come back. It was foolish not to be at least a little afraid.

The sight of her carrying the backpack was hilarious, and he was convinced if they went up an incline, she would topple backwards and roll down a hill. As she asked about his bounty hunting, he thought back to the incident on G’wenee, “Snagged a huge payload actually,” He said, “But it fucked me up,” He grimaced behind the visor. He took some solid injuries from the altercation and was lucky to be alive. Some of his actions had been downright foolish.

The forest grew darker as they walked and he had to rely on his HUD to keep on the path. The path grew muddy and soon they found themselves in a bog. There was a thick swamp ahead of them where the path continued on the other side. Jace groaned, “Fuck,” He pulled up his wrist, projecting a miniature holographic display of the map, “We can go around it and lose a few days or try to cut through it,” His initial thought was to just use his jetpack, but that seemed like a terrible idea with how densely surrounded they were by trees.

Jace took a step forth and felt his boot sinking into the swamp. He couldn’t feel the goop, but he could feel the warmth, and that made him cringe.

@LadyRen

 

[Maeve]

Was she ready? She wasn't one for half baked plans and she wasn't one who enjoyed uncertainty or unpredictability, but so was the nature of this promising mission and so she tried not to care as much. "Obviously", she thus replied confidently even if deep inside her, she wasn't. She wasn't nervous yet either, but that was because she sometimes just overplayed it anyway.

"Sounds fun". We'll, she had met him as a full daredevil, so she absolutely didn't doubt he had pulled some risky shit, but as he mentioned having gotten fucked up, she raised a brow. Did that mean he was slower than usual? Still inhibited? Could she fully count om his quick reflexes here? She dearly hoped it and took a mental note for now.

Even if Maeve was in tactical attire, she soon learned that the terrain was more hostile than they had first assumed. She pondered on their options for a moment before she let out a sigh. "I'd prefer the detour. Honestly, this will be something we have to play slow anyway". She then watched his boot disappear and just gained some more confirmation.

"We can gather tracks and evidence about what we're dealing with while familiariing ourselves with the terrain". Also, she was in no rush, knowing that the reward would be worth it. "We might have like 8 more hours of daylight", she assumed and voiced her thoughts, knowing they'd have to fine a place to sleep by then and just hoping they wouldn't fall victim to any predators then. "I guess you usually don't do jungle expeditions?". If they'd walk fast enough, they'll even leave the current biome behind, but for now they were literally plagued with swamp and bugs.

@Sreeya

 

[Jace Kryze]

“Yeah, I say detour too,” He said as he drew his boot out of the gunk. He didn’t miss her look when he mentioned getting blown up, “Aww, don’t worry so much, I’m still fully operational,” He said with a snicker, tilting his helmet playfully before he turned and began to walk through a side path. Jace drew out a vibroblade and started hacking through tree branches, leaves, probably small woodland creatures, and anything that got in his way.

“Whatever gave you that idea?” He asked innocently when she asked if he did jungle expeditions. In truth, he had done many of them, but he still despised it. The only reason he was this deep into the planet’s sweaty armpit was because of that reward. Jace kept walking, holding up branches for her to walk under.

Eventually, she would notice he grew extremely quiet in his approach. He silently pointed on the ground at what looked like a deer-like animal. It had been torn and shredded apart in ways no average animal would have been able to do. The claw and bite marks looked massive and far too large for anything that could exist in a jungle like this.

Jace crouched down next to the creature, “Dead two or three days,” He observed, his helmet keeping out the stench. He looked for tracks leading away, but there had been a storm at some point and it was difficult to tell. They would have to look for other clues.

“I’m impressed your piece of shit ship managed to fly all the way out here,” He said with a grin as he kept moving along the path.

@LadyRen

 

[Maeve]

When he said she shouldn't worry, she didn't fully buy it. He was enough of a daredevil to overestimate such things, she figured, but he was still her safest bet. When it came to the hunt, she didn't doubt he had what it took to bring the beast, so she reminded herself to relax a little at least. From the outside it would still appear as if his words had hit their target.

"I dunno...you seem prepared and ready enough", she replied with a shrug, throwing him a smirk as she squeezed herself through some branches. The massive backpack was a problem, so she turned to her Vibroblade as well after a moment, choosing to join his course of destruction.

They worked in silence, carving their way through nature, before he suddenly stopped and pointed towards a carcass. The claw marks made her shiver ever so slightly as her throat went dry. Yeah...they were dealing with something massive. The smell didn't bother her a lot, after all she had grown up in shitholes all around, yet she still slightly grimaced.

"My ship", she defensively began, "is perfect fine". Was enough to get you to your contractor and enough to get me here. "I'm impressed you do know how the use your Vibroblade for other things, too", she teasingly added before they continued onwards.

They weren't moving super fast, but they made progress after all, at least until they would hear a river coming closer to their right. "What does your map say? Do we have to find a way to cross it or continue along it?". They didn't have tracks like that, but fresh always meant thirsty predators turned to it eventually.

@Sreeya

 

[Jace Kryze]

Jace had downloaded a map knowing there would be no service out here. However, even that data was limited. He gave a vague shrug at Riva’s question, “You will be thrilled to know that the charted course didn’t even have a river outlined,” He said with a grin behind the helmet. However, he had a sense of adventure and wasn’t fazed by the unknown, “Let’s keep along it for now. Water lures all beasts, so maybe it’ll lead to more tracks.”

They kept walking and he started to hum a tune to himself, one he heard growing up. Eventually he glanced over his shoulder, giving a laugh, “Let me get that for you,” He said at last, taking her giant backpack. He slung it over his chest, a backpack on his back, and one on his chest. Jace appeared to have no issues carrying the combined weight, maintaining his hiking pace.

“How long have you been in the hunting business?” Jace asked. He didn’t specify what kind of hunting. Bounties, animals, it didn’t matter. He already knew she was a hunter of some sort.

@LadyRen

 

[Maeve]

The humidity was bad already, especially because the air seemed to grow hotter and thicker the further they walked. "Oh fantastic", she let out a sarcastic scoff at his sudden revelation before she brushed a strand of hair that had fallen loose behind her ear.

"You're right though...even this monster has to drink eventually". The question, however, was how many hours they had to continue before they'd find the next track or whether they were already off in the completely wrong direction. They kept on hiking and after another hour, the huge backpack on her back seemed to gain weight with each step.

Maeve diligently sticked to her training routines, yet after another while it helped her little. With the tents and supplies, there was simply a lot in it and it was wearing her out, but as if on cue, Jace suddenly chimed in and offered to take it from her. "Oh, thank you", she said him as she threw him a genuinely grateful smile. Nope, she wouldn't have asked him to take it from her for another while, but she was more than thankful that he had offered to take it all by himself.

His question soon broke the silence that had followed after and for a moment, she met his gaze. Was he just making conversation or was it genuine interest? Perhaps even a strategic question with him trying to figure out whether he could rely on her skills too? "Since I was a young teenager, actually". She was certain he was talking about bounty hunting, and it was the truth.

"It has always been good money...if you're careful at least". Next to conning, trickery, fraud, theft and many other crimes, bounty hunting usually paid well if you weren't crossed...or double crossed...or injured. She didn't doubt he had also ran into trouble while being at it, so she asked something differed instead: "Have you been raised a Mandalorian?". She knew there were some who had joined later, but somehow she assumed the prior was true.

"And what is your fav-", she was cut off, by the sudden hiss right next to them. It was something massive and Maeve's hand immediately slid to her Vibroblade as she faced the source of the sound. For a moment, neither of them would see anything, but suddenly, a tall avian creature would soar through the air above them.

"That...just scared the crap out of me", she admitted. It seemed like the beast wasn't interested in them at all as it simply disappeared for now, but Maeve's heart was almost jumping out of her chest. Only now did she realize that it had gotten much darker already and that sooner or later, they'd have to find a safe place for the night.

@Sreeya