Penance and Prospects

Kliedden Raxx

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Independent
Rank
Bounty Hunter

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Reyn
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Aboard Commandeered Crusader Corvette en route to Onderon
It was over, everyone had gotten through the Hutt blockade and were on their way to safety. Aska was making a detour to Bespin to pick up Ali and her droids, then the group would rendezvous at his estate back on Onderon. Given the calculations it would be around three days before the pilfered Crusader corvette arrived at her destination. Klied didn’t mind the wait. He was just happy to put that ugly business on Mataou behind him.

The hunter sighed and ran his hands through his hair as he exited the bridge. He felt like he’d aged a decade in the past few weeks. Between their visit to Aska’s childhood home and their most recent trip to Mataou he’d seen enough zombies to last him a lifetime. He just wanted to go home and sleep for a month or two.

As he walked down the pristine hallway of his new ship the hunter examined his clothing. There was still a good deal of grime and guts coating his beloved Anooba fur coat. It was completely unsalvageable. He wandered between the different sleeping quarters of the ship, shamelessly rifling through the belongings of whoever the former owners were. They were Hutts and Hutt sycophants. He wasn’t too concerned. He was quite sure he was on their shit list already.

Eventually he found some clothes that looked like they’d fit him, a bright red long sleeved shirt and some dark trousers. The hunter stripped himself of his savage’s clothing and showered before changing into the more comfortable attire. He kept his belt, holstering his Westar on one hip and his hunting knife on the other as always. He didn’t expect the slaves operating the ship to turn on him, he had promised to make them rich after all, and he intended to follow through on that promise. But he wasn’t the type to trust easily. It was always better to be safe than sorry.

Freshened up and no longer fearing infection he continued his tour of the ship, taking in its silent beauty. It had potential, he just had to figure out what the hell to do with it. He’d been a game hunter and then a bounty hunter. Why would either of those have need of a warship? He stopped walking and wondered. Was he really just a hunter anymore? That’s how he’d always styled himself. A man only tolerating the niceties of civilized society, preferring to stay out in the wild as much as possible. But how long had it been since his last expedition? He was thoroughly wrapped up in everyone else’s business, moving from one planet to the next and fighting the targets they chose. He didn’t know how to feel about that.

Poffo and Aska were his friends. It’s not like he could just walk away from them to go back to what he was doing before. So, what was he supposed to do? The idea was actually frightening to him. In the wild everything was simple. Black and white. You hunted, you found shelter, you survived. Civilization was complicated. It was confusing. It made him lose sight of things. It made him do things that weren’t purely in the interest of survival. Like trying to shoot a fleeing slave for manipulating him. And hitting an innocent teenager in the crossfire. Klied’s brow furrowed and his face set into a deep frown as he started walking again. Well, that was one thing he could do. Fix something he’d broken.
 

Kliedden Raxx

Character
Independent
Rank
Bounty Hunter

Character Profile
Link
OOC
Reyn
Joined
Jan 25, 2020
Messages
308
Reaction score
107
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One slave had remained in the med bay to look after the kid. He was awake now, propped up on his bed and conversing with the older Zeltron woman. She was dressed in even less than the rest of the survivors, likely a dancer. She gasped and took a step back from the bed when she saw Klied enter. The kid turned over to see what she was afraid of and he went pale himself.

Klied shifted uncomfortably in the doorway. He didn’t like being looked at with so much fear, although he couldn’t exactly blame them. He’d shot at them after all. Even if they agreed to work with him for the time being, it was a fragile alliance at best. An awkward silence befell the room. The hunter cleared his throat and licked his lips, trying to muster up the courage to speak. And to remember the words. “Peai… Peai dotke uba?”

More painful silence. The Zeltron was petrified. The kid worked his jaw, behaving like he was staring down an angry rancor. He was hesitant too, but finally offered a relieving reply. “I speak Basic.” He answered him with only a slight accent to his words.

“You do?” Klied said awkwardly. “Well… That makes this easier…” It didn’t. Another excruciating silence followed before the hunter continued. “Can I come in?” The kid’s brow furrowed. He was frightened but defiant.

“What do you want?” He asked with some edge to his voice. “Cha woy jen pauay!” The Zeltron snapped in a low and fearful tone, pushing on the teenager’s shoulder. He brushed her hand off and kept his eyes locked with Klied. The hunter just raised his hands non-threateningly.

“I just want to talk to you.” He insisted softly. “Can I come in? Please?” There was another long pause as the boy looked him over suspiciously. Finally, he turned to face the Zeltron and spoke to her in Huttese. They argued briefly. She seemed reluctant to leave, looking between the kid and Klied. Eventually he seemed to convince her. The woman stepped away from the bed and cautiously started making her way towards the door, giving the hunter a wide berth. Klied stepped aside to give her more room and the slave moved a bit more quickly to the threshold. There she stopped to look worriedly once more at the teenager, then at Klied, and then she begrudgingly departed.

“Who the hell are you anyway?” The kid asked. Obviously, he didn’t have an ounce of trust for Klied, but at least he was willing to talk.

“Name’s Klied,” The Onderonian answered as he approached and sat down on the empty bed across from the kid’s. The young slave’s eyes watched him like a hawk the entire way. “I’m a bounty hunter.” He offered a good-natured smile. “Who the hell are you?” Again, the boy hesitated. He was clearly expecting the worst from Klied and was thrown off by his behavior.

“Tegan.” He answered with no further explanation. They both knew he was a slave. Or former slave at least. He didn’t want to repeat it.

“You speak pretty good Basic Tegan.” Klied complimented him, still trying to ease the tension a bit.

“You speak pretty shit Huttese.” The boy replied. Though it was an insult he was already starting to calm down a bit. “Not all of us were born slaves you know. Some of us were stolen from our homes. Basic is my first language.”

“Oh?” Klied asked, letting the hostility pass by without a retort as he sat back and crossed his arms. “And where is that? We could drop you off there.” Tegan averted his eyes and grit his teeth.

“Terminus.” He answered the hunter’s question. “And I’d prefer it if you didn’t. There’s nothing left for me there. You can just drop me off with the others wherever you land.” Klied stared silently at the boy for a few moments. It was fairly easy for him to put two and two together. It was most likely whatever old life the kid had was destroyed when he became a slave. Either that or he didn’t consider it worth returning to. But that was his choice, and the hunter wouldn’t argue the point.

“You could stick with me if you’ve got nowhere to go.” Klied offered suddenly, drawing the boy’s attention back to him. “I bet I could make something useful of you.” Tegan looked at him in surprise for a few moments before his expression soured again.

“I’m done serving other people thanks.” He said before looking away again. Klied chuckled.

“I don’t mean as a servant.” He clarified, drawing a sidelong glance from the kid. “I mean a protégé.”

“A what?” The kid asked, looking back at him like he had just insulted him.

“An apprentice.” The hunter explained. “Work with me and I’ll teach you some useful skills. And when you feel like leaving you can.” There was another long pause as the kid tried to figure out if he was joking or not.

“What… You want to teach me to be a bounty hunter?” He asked finally, receiving a nod in return. Again, he hesitated, confused. “Why?” Klied frowned.

“Because I feel bad about shooting you in the ribs.” He said bluntly, then turned his gaze towards the floor for a few long moments as he thought about things. About everything. Slowly he looked back up at the kid. “And because I want my knowledge to be put to good use… I think I’ve had about enough of living for myself. What I have to teach you is worth learning. You’d have everything you’d need to make it on your own. So, are you interested?”

The boy stared back at him for several silent moments, his face a mixture of confusion, mistrust, and morbid curiosity. “No strings attached? I could walk away any time I want?”

“Any time you want.” Klied assured him, then paused to think. "Well... It would be dangerous. You'd be getting shot at more. But the pay is-"

“Deal.” The boy cut him off. The outburst seemed to surprise them both a bit. But the hunter could see something in his eyes. Fire. A resolve to take back what had been stolen from him. He smirked and extended a hand.

“Glad to have you onboard Tegan.” He said. For the first time Tegan smiled back as he grabbed the hand and shook it.
 
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