The Axe

[Brandr Jarl]

Theme​

Brandr didn't know what planet he was actually on right now - he knew only two things about this planet.

It rained. It constantly rained, to the point that Brandr was beginning to think that the sun in the sky was a lie, an illusion. Clouds would form almost instantly, unleash their payload and then reform within moments.

The only other thing he knew?

The people here were an easy mark.

Were they pirates? No.

Were they Cartel supporters? No.

Were they Jedi supporters? No.

They were traders.

And that meant that they had credits and he wanted credits - he needed credits for his next big purchase of a ship. Hence why he was currently slaughtering the last of their militia. It was almost too easy, despite the rain.

This raid would be quick it seemed.

@Herrith @Käte

 

[Käte]

Käte exhaled sharply as she knocked braids out of her face and sat up. She had no idea why such a rain-filled, drought-ridden planet had been the destination for the shuttle she had hitched a free ride on. Well, she was here now, along with all her gear tucked into a duffel bag and the Vikingr armor she wore lazily clipped on, minus the helmet and much of the upper body armor. The last thing she needed right now was to be burdened by something else. Her issues in this current moment were a long list of stuff she had seen coming ever since she left Hoth.

One was the fact that she had no credits and no way to get credits, as that was the standard form of currency within the galaxy. Another? She didn't belong in any culture the whole of the stars had to offer, at least none that she had been in contact with yet. So she was basically isolated again. Three? There were screams of pain and sounds of battle coming from around the corner. Käte did anything a reasonable Deucalian would do, and turned the building to find a very angry looking man with a beard and tied hair laying waste to a group of fighters.

Hells, just my damned luck.

Seeing as she didn't exactly want to get killed by anything in particular, she thought it best to draw her carbine from the bag and keep it in a low ready position, not wanting to be the asshole that shoots for no reason and not wanting to become shishkebab at the same time.

@Nefieslab

 

[Brandr Jarl]

Seemed that he had reached the end of the militiamen - there were no more left to challenge him.

Standing there, in his heavy armour with only his thermal axe in hand, he sighed a little bit as the rain just kept on pouring. It sizzled as it landed against the edge of his axe, the thermal edge still hot. He stood there for a moment longer before glancing around the area he was in, finding the local leader cowering at the entrance to a building...

And was that a woman in Víkingr armour?

That was more interesting than the credits he could get from raiding this place, at least right now.

"Þú ert með brynjuna en ertu með ættin?"

It had been a rather long time since he had seen another Deucalian it had to be said. The last time he'd seen one it had been his father and that hadn't ended happily.

@Herrith @Käte

 

[Käte]

Käte eyed the weaponry and armor, immediately sizing up this guy as he finished off his opponents. He seemed to look around for a moment before being taken by surprise, or what she could garner as surprise, at her presence. His eyes hovered over the armor she wore, or what wasn't tucked into a bag. The Valengard shifted uneasily as he spoke in Deucalic. A raider? Alone? In a place like this? Mysterious. She kept her weapon ready as she thought of a proper response to the question. Her eyes blinked and then looked at the thermal axe while she returned a response in their native language.

DEUCALIC: "And you have the language. But are you with your clan?"

Whatever reason he was here, it smelled of something that didn't quite seem right. She'd have to keep her eyes out...and a blaster or sword handy. Though Käte had tried to focus more on blending in with common galactic people, which included working with blasters more than she ever had. Not as skillful as with a sword and shield, but the Valengard was getting there. Or hell, she could miss if this erupted into fighting and end up screwing something up.

 

[Brandr Jarl]

Aha!

It seemed that he had, somehow, managed to stumble across a Deucalian on this wretched planet! Maybe now he would be able to get some decent conversation? Or, more likely, she might try and stab him for being a Sith... good thing he hadn't shown signs of being a Sith yet then wasn't it?

Might let him be the one who started the stabbing if, indeed, stabbing became a requirement. Who knows, this might just turn into some strange kind of bonding time?

"Ég tala við tungu móður minnar." he agreed in their native tongue with a grin, "Ég fæddist til að klæða Baldr - ég hef ekki kallað það heima í mörg ár. Og þú, kappi?"

Conversation was rather interesting so far... but he was pulling the Force to himself carefully, keeping his lightsaber, hidden under his cloak, ready for use.

@Herrith @Käte

 

[Käte]

Käte scoffed and slowly lowered her blaster, setting its safety. Not like she was going to be able to hit anyone or anything with it. But, she supposed, no sense not trying. At this distance, not being able to nail a target would honestly just be embarrassing. The Deucalian, for what she could guess him as, had some kind of feeling floating around him that she couldn't quite place. It wasn't pleasant, and whatever instincts she had that hadn't been toned down in favor of logic and sheer brutality told her this wasn't the kind of guy to be talking to on a whim.

Maybe the dead bodies all over the place were the reason why. She took her stabilizing hand off the blaster and exhaled, listening to the Baldr recount a little bit of who he was. She couldn't help but let out a scoff. Ironic, meeting another Baldr after all these years..except that he had renounced the title. Odd. Her face molded into a slight sneer and a smile.
"Þú talar eins og Baldr."
<You speak like a Baldr.>

She hesitated on the next part. Again, someone might have the bright idea of looking for a missing Valengard. But honestly, if the clans really cared about losing one, then they would have sent plenty more people, and she probably would have been found by now. It didn't matter much, then. Funny how Deucalians worked now.
"Valengard. O
g stoltur."
<Valengard. And proud.>

Her Deucalic sounded a lot more informal than this mystery Baldr's. Maybe because she hadn't been using it much. Though it was her first language, which disproved how that worked. She placed her bets on the fact that she was raised in a house that slurred and spoke plain. Käte just must have never realized it.

 

[Brandr Jarl]

He spoke like a Baldr?

He had no idea what that really meant, having spent his adult years away from the Deucalian people rather than with them as Kate seems to have spent. Honestly, his native was probably little bit robotic at this point considering he never normally spoke it so it was like picking up an old instrument that hadn't been tuned in some time. He rolled his eyes at her but there was a smirk firmly in place even as he did so.

"Ég hef ekki hugmynd um að það sé móðgun."

When she revealed what she actually was, he blinked a few times as he looked at her oddly for a few moments. He knew what a Valengard was but...

"Ég hélt að þú værir allir farin?"

It didn't matter to him. He gestured to the local leader with a hand,

"Huga ef ég tek með einingarnar mínar?"

@Herrith @Käte

 

[Käte]

Käte could tell her joke wasn't as naturally received as it normally would be among Deucalians. This one was odd. Not an outsider posing as a Deucalin...nor entirely Deucalian himself. Normally she would have dropped the topic there, but it seemed that there was more to this story than a simple answer. Simple answers she craved but could never get the more she spent out here in the galaxy. When she mentioned her status as a Valengard, the Baldr seemed to have been hit with some kind of surprise, followed up by something else, which chilled her bones with her fears. Fears she hadn't even thought to acknowledge till now.

I thought they were all dead.

That hit hard. Was it really that bad, and she never realized? Her smile that had grown for a brief moment faded once more, returning to the stoic and blank face it normally was. Unless she was pissed off, of course. She swapped from Deucalic to Basic midway, suddenly feeling less of a warmth and more of a cold.

"Nei. Not all."

Her eyes refocused on a newcomer as she zipped her duffel bag up after taking a knee, a knuckle bumping the helmet tucked into the bag as she paused. The Last Valengard. A fitting title, whether true or not. Though if she was worthy of it, only the gods controlled now.

@Nefieslab @Brandr Jarl

 

[Brandr Jarl]

Huh.

She seemed to have gotten more... rigid? He wasn't sure what the right word for it was. She had gotten a touch more standoffish since he had made the comment about the Valengard. Was she upset? He couldn't imagine why she was upset. Surely as a Valengard herself she knew very well just how empty her order was, right? It wasn't like it was even slightly secret. He hadn't been an active member of a clan since he was a teenager and even he knew that there weren't many of them left.

He grinned a little bit before marching over to the villager.

"My credits, old man." he declared bluntly, "Make me ask again and I'll not be amused."

Understatement to be certain.

But it didn't matter - the old man handed over the credits and Brandr tucked them away safely within his armour before gesturing with his head for the older man to leave. He turned back to Kate with a small smile,

"You want to grab a drink?" He offered her in basic, shrugging slightly, "You're the first Deucalian I've seen in almost a decade."

Made sense to him that he'd want a mead.

@Herrith @Käte

 

[Käte]

Käte watched with what she herself couldn't really determine. Was it amusement? Mere indifference? She shrugged to herself and readjusted her duffel bag on her shoulder, continuing to observe as the Deucalian insisted on his credits. His sheer gaze should have been enough, but evidently not because there were words, in Basic furthermore, that were involved to get what he wanted. It wasn't exactly a Deucalian thing to be insisting on credits, though then again this was a Valengard that was judging Deucalian values. And one tha thad run away from her people at that.

Once the old man had fled, the Baldr returned his focus to Käte, wondering if she wanted a drink. The second part of his sentence was quite odd, though it lined up with every other assumption she could make about him. A second shrug came upon her shoulders as she tipped her head. She wasn't really a drinker, so this could go bad in a lot of ways.

"I suppose..it wouldn't hurt. You're not the first Deucalian I've seen in a while."

@Nefieslab @Brandr Jarl

 

[Brandr Jarl]

Credits! Finally!

He had been beginning to wonder if the old coot even spoke basic with how much of a pain in the ass he was being for Brandr. But he had his credits and he had his mead and he now had a drinking partner so he couldn't complain too much, right? He chuckled a little bit and shrugged,

"I'm not going to bite, Valengard." he assured her with a slight roll of the eyes, "If you don't want to drink we can just talk. Assuming you are not busy?"

He didn't know why she was here after all.

Could be that she was here for a reason and he was interrupting.

@Herrith @Käte

 

[Käte]

Käte scoffed at the Baldr as he mocked her apprehensions about drinking. She was a lightweight as of now, and she knew it. Wasn't even afraid to admit it. So, yeah, she had a couple hesitating points about getting drunk with a guy that had just slaughtered local soldiers for no reason and claimed to be a Deucalian, yet had no idea about the recent events plaguing their people. As much as she doubted he would be some kind of imposter or Baldr superfan, she didn't like this aspect of untrustworthiness that came with living with normal people of the galaxy. Or maybe she just wasn't used to it. Best try to hide her thoughts with bad wit.

"But the issue is that I do. As for the drinks, let's get a few glasses in and see just how twisted I get then, eh? I haven't much else to do."

 

[Brandr Jarl]

He had to admit that he didn't mind the banter that she was willing to engage in - it was amusing to say the least. Too many of the people he spoke to were afraid of him. They didn't know what to say to someone like him but here she was doing it like a pro. It seemed that while he was a curiosity amongst the Sith, he would likely have been right at home with the other Deucalians then. He would have been home with them.

An odd concept.

Smirking a little bit, he gestures for her to follow him into the inn that had been the start of this whole fiasco. It was empty now, meaning they could take the table in front of the fire with the bottles of wine still there from the last guests. It was wine but it was also free.

Free was always a good price.

"You promise you bite?" he asked her, barring his teeth in a wide smirk before chuckling, "But aye - let's have some and warm up from the rain."

He poured out a cup for her and then did the same for himself,

"So what brings you wandering this far Valengard?"

@Herrith @Käte

 

[Käte]

Käte shrugged as they entered the in , not having enough of a good answer to respond to the quip effectively. So at that point she thought it best to just let her words get toyed with minus her input. She looked back at th various dead people behind them, wondering why and how exactly this whole thing had taken place. That was a lot of killing with only a little explanation. As they sat down, she looked at the wine between them, a used bottle but, with his reasoning, free nonetheless. She set her heavy bag down with a metallic clunk as her glass was filled and she mentally prepared herself for the alcohol.

After all, she wasn't the most avid drinker among her Deucalian brethren. Frankly, she just didn't enjoy it enough to warrant getting herself drunk. Though in some cases it was worth it. Some cases being the key term. The Valengard started off her response with what she had been saying ever since she left the Deucalians for a new cause.

"I'm looking for a war. Deucalia had cut its claws, and I'm looking for something worth fighting for."

Didn't hurt to be honest, as much as saying that hurt her and how much the wine going down her throat didn't appease her.

 

[Brandr Jarl]

Well now...

Looking for a war?

Well, that was a rather blunt answer and he had to admit that he appreciated her candour in telling him. Sure, she couldn't have been lying but a combination of the Force and his natural intuition told him that she wasn't lying - she really had left their people to search for a war because their people were de-fanged.

They were weak.

"A good reason to leave." he accepted with a little chuckle, "Have you given any thought to joining the Sith Empire then? They have good mercenary program - their Legion or whatever they call them?"

He smirked.

"Good work for a war... if you can ignore what else they've done."

@Herrith @Käte

 

[Käte]

Käte's heart immediately went cold at the mention of the Sith. Though they were only against Deucalia, it still hurt her personally that it was even an option. She resisted the urge to flip te table and attempted to block out the heat rising in her chest. The Sith had attempted to kill her people and, in doing so, kill her. Old loyalties remained, as difficult as it was to adjust to serving herself already. She needed to get used to the fact that people saw the Sith as a viable source of income, or a good fight. The Valengard would much rather slice their throats instead of slicing others to save theirs.

"I'd rather kiss a Baldr--or in more commonly understood terms, I suppose I'd rather kill them than work for them. They're monsters and they killed my people...back before we lost the will to fight."

She downed the rest of the wine.
"Apologies. I got a bit out of hand."

@Nefieslab @Brandr Jarl

 

[Brandr Jarl]

Oooo touched a nerve had he?

Brandr couldn't help but grin at the way she tensed up, immediately angry, over what he had said about joining up with the Sith. He had expected some rage but seeing a Valengard angry was rather a sight. Was it so bad that he wanted to see more of it? Probably not a good thing but what did he care?

Life was only worth living when you were risking it.

"Well I can help you out with the kissing part." he teased her with a smirk, "But not with the killing part - think suicide is still frowned upon by our people, yes?"

His smirk grew dangerous.

"I'm a Sith, Valengard."

He tilted his head to one side.

"And a Deucalian too. What does that mean for our pleasant conversation?"

@Herrith @Käte

 

[Käte]

The thoughts were now connecting together in a matter of nanoseconds. Käte finally realized just how much sense this had made. She just couldn't put the dots together for some reason--not until now. No Deucalian was alone, much less able to take on so many people at once...except for maybe her, but that was beside the point. The Valengard inhaled while the Baldr finally explained why he was here--of course tossing in a rather distasteful joke that caught her off guard and made her cheeks flush, mostly because of irritation.

Käte put a hand on the side of her head and rested her elbow against the table, exhaling sharply with a growl. Her bones told her to kill him--at least try to get her hands around his neck before he managed to kill her in an instant...but she needed to move on from that. The Sith had attacked Deucalia, not her. She wasn't a Deucalian anymore--just Valengard, doomed to roam the galaxy and find something worth fighting for.

"It certainly doesn't make us friends, Sith nagdýr. Nei, I can't believe I shared a drink with something as low as you."

@Nefieslab @Brandr Jarl

 

[Brandr Jarl]

He watched her react and he wanted her to react more but she seemed determined to try and keep her reaction to a minimum. It was slightly disappointing but it was something that he could accept, something he could deal with, for now. He was, however, already fighting against the urge to make her angrier, to have her make a scene.

For some reason, he just had it as an urge and he really wanted to do it. Instead he just continued to smirk as he took a drink of the wine they were sharing.

"Come now Valengard - you know that you are little better." He teased her with a smirk, "After all... even I've heard stories about the Valengard. Me?"

He shrugged,

"I saw strength in the Sith - strength the Deucalians lacked. You know why the Sith hurt the Deucalians?"

His smile grew wicked, teeth showing and wide,

"Þeir voru veikir. Þeir skilið að hafa skip sín stolið. Þeir eiga skilið að deyja - vegna þess að veikleiki skilið ekkert nema dauðann."

@Herrith @Käte

 

[Käte]

Käte's temper deepened and heat rose from her face as the Baldr--no, the Sith pressed on. She clenched her fist, knowing he was only playing games, trying to get inside of her head and taunt her even as she let him do so. Training and practice with controlling emotions or not, she was still vulnerable to things like this. The last straw came when he muttered in Deucalic, a language she despised sharing with something like this. Her jaw set and she pulled a dagger from her belt, spinning it in her hand till its blade pointed down and intending to stab his hand with the weapon, stopping barely short with a snarl and locking eyes with the Sith.

Käte exhaled a sound of irritation and drove the blade deep into the table. She didn't do it. She couldn't do it. Why so easy any other time? Why now? The Valengard picked up her bag and stood, turning to walk out of the building. Maybe there was a shuttle here that she could stow away on, or promise to pay credits to some other time. She just couldn't linger around here. Why? What had stopped her from something so simple? Was it because he was Deucalian? Because she feared what Sith could do?

As she thought this, she reached out a hand to open the door to the outside.