"Get her!" The growl of a male voice, barely beyond his mid-teen years, echoed throughout the abandoned warehouse located deep in the heart of the industrial district. This command was soon followed by the sound of running feet pounding against the transparisteel grated catwalks suspended high above humongous empty vats that once held melted metals that were poured into large forms for construction materials.

"Frak!" That curse was uttered from behind the lips of a young teen girl, just barely past sixteen years. Mouse would have been able to get away scot free had it not been for the loose bolt that she had stepped on. The side of her shoe hit it just right, sending the metallic piece shooting off the catwalk and down to the duracrete several dozen feet below. The entire warehouse had been eerily silent so as soon as the bolt hit the hard floor, the noise echoed throughout the facility and sounded far louder than it should have thanks to acoustics.

As Mouse ran she stuffed a rather non-descrip oval jewel that was suspended by a silver chain into the inside pocket of her jacket and looked over her shoulder to see how much distance the boys of The Arkanian Dragons had gained on her.  Mouse had to allow herself a small, quirky smile though as an errant thought flitted through her mind about how this was the part in those horrible B-rated holofilms where the stupid girl trips and winds up getting captured by the demon or demons that were chasing her in the first place. So glad I am not that girl, the street urchin thought smugly as she turned back around just in time to ….

"Whoa, frick!" Narrowly escape clotheslining herself on a large, thick metal beam sticking far into the aisle from the fork tongues of the hydralift supporting it. The beam itself, as well as the piece of construction equipment holding it in the air, had a layer of dust on it at least two inches thick. But Mouse ducked just in time, losing her footing and striking her right knee against the duracrete floor sharply. Pain shot up the poor girl's leg, forcing her to grit her teeth and grind her jaw to bite back yet another curse from passing beyond tightly pursed lips. There was light at the end of the tunnel. Or, in this case, Mouse had seen the pale blue luminescent glow of sporadically placed lamps casting soft light throughout the expanse of the old warehouse yard.

It was just up ahead and, feeling like her typical self, Mouse ran through the door that long ago had been used by the foreman in charge of this particular plant, and felt invigorated by the cool, night air. The girl ran on though, around a large pile of discarded metal scrappings, and continued on until she was well out of the blueish glow of the lamps and absorbed by the shadows. Spotting a huge stack of cargo containers, Mouse ran for them and lost herself within the maze they created.

Safe, at least for the time being, she fell to her knees and heaved in huge gulping breaths of air. Her lungs burned, she wheezed heavily with each drawn breath, and felt as if she might vomit. But the girl closed her eyes and concentrated on slowing her breathing. Nice, slow, deep breaths. These were held for a five count, then slowly released for a count of ten. She repeated the trick until her lungs ceased to ache and were able to do their job without strain. "Whew, those idiots," she said softly, chuckling. She hung around for a bit longer to rest up some. When it was time to go, she made sure the coast was clear and was quite careful in making her way out of the warehouse yards and away from the industrial district.

The streets were no place for a child, especially at night. But Mouse was use to the streets, use to the sounds of blaster fire going off, the sound of screams coming from attack victims, and even the sound of some critter hissing or fighting for a bit of leftovers. Mouse's stomach grumbled. Last she had something to eat was three days ago. A bit underweight, Mouse barely weighed in at one hundred pounds. It was a wonder she continued to survive. Malnourished, it was easier to find water or a source of fluid than it was to find food that hadn't been sitting in a trash compactor all night and day.

I wonder what Sledge was talking about? As Mouse had been reaching a hand through a window to take the necklace now tucked away safely in her pocket, she had overheard the leader of The Arkanian Dragons, Sledge, mention something about someone calling themselves Scar and how he was going to be turning over a million in credits for the necklace. Who is this Scar person? And why would he be willing to pay that much for this ugly necklace?

So deep into her thoughts that Mouse hadn't realized she'd turned a few blocks before she should have.  Next the street rat knew was that she found herself looking up a set of stairs that seemed to ascend forever.  The further up her chocolately eyes traveled, the more massive the structure became. Large spiers rose toward the heavens, figures (or perhaps they were symbols or runes) intricately carved within the stone didn't seem familiar to Mouse at all.

Curious, the orphan girl looked to her right, then to her left. Oddly, there wasn't a soul in sight, which kind of creeped the girl out. But having lived for years on the harsh streets, Mouse's senses and reflexes were spry. She was quick and agile, able to get into small tight spaces, and thinks quick on her feet. All of these skills were necessary for survival.

An old tin can rolled from a trash bin into the gutter at the side of the street. Mouse turned toward the direction the sound had come from. She stood there, silent, listening and searching the shadows with well-honed eyes. "Frickety-frak," she exclaimed under her breath when she saw Sledge emerge from the shadows, followed by his little minions from various positions. They had effectively trapped the girl.

Or so they thought. Mouse turned and bolted, taking the stairs two at a time. She looked so small, so miniscule against the enormity of the Temple as she raced for her life up the stairs. It took five full minutes of full-on running to finally reach the top but she was not safe just yet. Mouse had to run the entire length of the plaza before once more being swallowed by thick, dark shadows.

The teen hunkered down inside of an alcove and remained as still and as quiet as possible. She waited, listening. When she heard Sledge's approaching footfalls, his out-of-breath gasps for air, Mouse closed her eyes and held her breath, making sure to keep herself very still where she was at; which was no more than two feet away from where Sledge now stood. The child seemed to enter a meditative-like state where she drowned out all other sounds, focusing solely on the beating of her own heart. This was effective for her in slowing its racing beat to near normal, which would allow her to hold her breath longer.

Not seeing her, Sledge flicked a menacing glare at his buddies. "Forget it guys. She's gone. We'll hunt her down tomorrow. HEAR THAT MOUSE? WE'LL GET YOU!" He yelled.

It wasn't until Mouse heard absolutely nothing but the soft whistle of the cool night breeze as it swept through the place that she crept out from the dark shadows. Cleaning droids hummed throughout the building, soft glow cells illuminated walk areas and corridors, and only a few souls were in sight the further into the Temple Mouse ventured. The few who did cast her a glance didn't seem to worried about her being there, though. This struck Mouse as rather odd. "Cool, I wonder what this place is?"

The teenager hadn't known it at the time, but she had found sanctuary within some sort of holy Temple. She wasn't a force-sensitive individual herself, though any Jedi worth their grain in Tattooine sandsalt would correct the child by educating her in the fact that the Force flowed through every living thing. If she paid attention, she would even feel it flowing through herself. But Mouse would have snorted in derision and rolled her eyes.

Figuring she was safe, at least for a little while longer, the teen found a nice bench to sit on and, after casting a conspiratorial look around, she withdrew the necklace from her pocket to have a look-see at it. The outer portion was a knobby, gray stone that appeared to have been purposely chosen as a counterpart to the central stones. A clear, rectangular, red gemstone formed the center of the jewel, with a lustrous, black stone being located on either side. The entire set of stones was bound together with silver, giving it the appearance of red, feline eye.

"Man, this thing sure is ugly,"  Mouse said softly to herself as she examined it some more. Funny. It feels … cold.  Angry. Mouse quivered as a chill raced up her spine and danced across her shoulders. Still not sure why anyone would be willing to pay so much for it though. After another minute or two, Mouse stuffed the item back into the inside pocket of her jacket and slouched down on the bench, resting her head against the back of it. Before the teen knew it, she was snoring, fast asleep.

Re: Caveat Emptor [Open]

The voices faded in and out from all around him, gnarled hands draped in tattered sleeves reaching through cell doors grasping at the hazy air. Hands tugged at the back of Garrick’s shirt yanking him away from the cell at the very end of the hallway, his own hands clutching the cold iron bars so hard his knuckles turned white.
   
“Don’t let them do this!”
   
“We have to…”
   
“No, we don’t!” Garrick sounded noticeably younger, his voice high and youthful. More hands pulled him from behind.
   
“It’s time to let go, Gare,”
   
“Please no!” Garrick’s legs lifted and were now being pulled as well. Tears began streaming down his cheeks. He felt a hand gently fall on his. Looking up, his eyes met with Rett Garvin’s.
   
“Take care of her,” Rett said. He effortlessly pulled Garrick’s hand from the bar and turned his palm up. He placed a dark green Sabacc chip in his hand and closed his fingers around it. A metallic slam from behind him made him snap his head around, looking past the faceless hands pulling him away from the cell.  The door at the other end of the hallway had swung open and a giant black mass seeped into the cell block, tentacles whipping around the hallway, moving closer and closer. Garrick sobbed and feebly tried shaking himself free. The cold hand again fell upon his and he looked up. But this time, it belonged to a young Twi’lek.
   
“It’s time to let go…”
   
~~~                             ~~~                              ~~~

Garrick finally shook himself awake, taking in a sharp breath. He looked up at the ceiling of his sleeping compartment, and despite the compartment being humid, the back of his hand collected cold sweat from his forehead and he fell back onto his cot, even though he knew laying back down was pointless.
      
Another nightmare, another night of lost sleep…

Garrick staggered through the darkened compartments of the Emerald Dawn, kicking several empty bottles of Ebla beer along the way, his eyes heavy with sleep and tears. Almost a year ago to the day, Garrick and his traveling companion Joy the Twi’lek parted ways. They had traveled to Tatooine to fuel up and make some minor repairs to the still bothersome hyperdrive. But during what was only supposed to be a brief stay on the planet, Joy told him she had to stay. Normally, Garrick wouldn’t have stopped her but during the months they had been traveling together, Garrick had come to genuinely care for her. Like another sister. Or maybe even a daughter…
   
He stopped himself and leaned against a wall, clutching at his chest, fighting more tears. It wasn’t long after Garrick left Tatooine that he turned to the bottle to drown his sorrows. He absolutely despised feeling sorry for himself, but what else could he do? He had lost Rett, he had lost Joy. His mother, his sisters. What did he have left?
   
His hair was long and matted, his traditional stubble now a full beard. He didn’t clean the ship, he didn’t clean himself, didn’t look for work or even care where he was. In fact, the Emerald Dawn was presently floating in orbit around a planet he didn’t even know the name of. He was lost.

He was a drunk broken man.

If only Redd and Gus could see him now…

Garrick made his way to the cockpit and plopped down in the pilot's chair, draping a blanket over his legs. He would probably fall asleep here soon, somehow dozing off when he least expected it. Between his index finger and thumb he rotated a green Sabacc chip, the writing of the casino on the side long since faded away.

His mentor and father-figure Rett Garvin had won the Emerald Dawn in a Sabacc game many years ago. He had told Garrick the story many times before: after a long night of playing, he and an angry bounty hunter named Rizik Fallheen decided to play one last hand. It would be Fallheen’s ship for Rett’s life, as well as the last 100 credit chip he had left. Luckily, Fortune decided to shine its graces on him that night. After Rett was arrested on Coruscant, he gave the chip to Garrick, passing along the Dawn as well. Garrick had even planned on giving the chip to Joy when she became an adult. Maybe even before then, in case Garrick’s bounty unexpectedly caught up to him.
   
But the ship remained his, but for how much longer? He couldn’t podrace, he didn’t have a home to go back to, he didn’t even have any friends…Except…
   
Garrick’s eyes shifted focus from the chip between his fingers to the infinite amount of stars sprinkled among the black of space. He lurched forward and started punching buttons on the control panel. A display lit up and a dim image of nearby planets flickered on. He cycled through them quickly and finally found the one he was looking for. Coruscant. It was closer than he would have anticipated. Close enough to not even have to use the hyperdrive to get there. His hand found the starter and he paused. Is this what he really wanted?
   
Did he really have to ask?
   
His wrist flicked the starter and the engines of the Emerald Dawn fired up, the ship seeming to have a life in it that Garrick hadn’t felt in a very long time.

Re: Caveat Emptor [Open]

It had been a long time since Mouse got a decent night's sleep.  A bright and warm light landed upon her face and woke the child with a start.  Shielding her sleepy eyes from the bright yellowy shine, Mouse sat up and worked a crick out of her neck.  It was pretty stiff from being at an odd angle for a long period of time but it would work itself out eventually.   Fluttering her eyes, Arabella let them adjust to the sunlight.  Just as she was almost able to make out actual shapes and not blurs, the teen jumped up from the bench, suddenly wide awake.  She'd forgotten where she was; at least until looking around at her surroundings and feeling the weight of the ugly amulet in her pocket.  As she stuffed her hand into it and curled her fingers around the trinket, Mouse remembered the events that had transpired the night before and where she ended up.  

Coruscant was a jumping, happenin' place 24 hours a day, 5 days a week, 368 days a year.  Mouse could hear the sounds of personal hovercraft traffic, public transportation, the blarings and bleatings of horns.  Sirens wailing in the distance, the clamor of people, aliens, and creatures.  Arabella wasn't so sure as to why this particular section, this particular seemingly abandoned temple of sorts was so quiet, so dead.  As she stood there glancing over the solid stone walls that appeared to be as ancient as time itself, she noticed intricate carvings.  Time had worn and faded them that had the sunlight not been slowly illuminating the structure at the angle it was, Mouse probably would never have noticed them at all.  

Her belly grumbled.  It ached.  She was hungry.  The thought had crossed the orphan's mind to go see if she could find some fresh scraps by hanging around the back alley of some of the local restaurants but she was more intrigued right now with the abandoned structure she was standing in than sating a stomach that was going to throw a tantrum by cramping and growling angrily until it got what it needed.   

As far as the buildings of the city went, this structure was very tall and imposing, much like the Jedi temple.  She had seen that building often.  Of course, who couldn't see it?  It was only one of the tallest structures in the political district of the plaza and it cut such an imposing figure in the skyline while also shining as a beacon for salvation and hope during the darkest hours.  But this temple - for that is what it was, Mouse was certain - was … What's the word I'm looking for …?  Chocolate eyes drifted slowly over the supporting beams, the thick stone arches and walls, the rune-like etchings … Mystical?  Maybe.  Dead?  Definitely.  Yes, that was it.  This place was cold, dark, uninviting.  

Mouse turned to her left to watch the sun, to follow the direction of its rays, to see how it fell upon the buildings.  Her eyes followed some of the beams of light as they walked up the numerous stone stairs, just as she had.  She paid particular attention to where those rays of light stopped.  Interesting, she thought.  Mouse walked to where she had entered the structure and stood with the tips of her toes flush with the hard line separating light and shadow then looked up at the facade of the ancient structure.  Arabella noticed how the sunlight refused or is being forceably blocked somehow to enter the first several feet of the entry though there was nothing above or from the sides that would block the light from chasing away a few of the shadows.  I've got to be missing something here.  That's just not possible.  Right?

Mouse looked again, very carefully, but still saw nothing that would create such an effect.  Pretty cool, she thought as she went back into the interior and ventured deeper inside.  The halls were narrow, but long.  Chilly, sometimes even down right cold.  A thick layer of dust had settled on the floor, coated torches that hadn't been used in several hundred years at least, and made cobwebs look much thicker and heavier than they truly were.  Even the spiders had abandoned the place.  The further down a hall Mouse went in her exploration, the more strongly a sense of foreboding became.  

Don't be ridiculous.  There's nothing to fear in the dark.  Besides, by the looks of this place, I'm the only one whose stepped foot this far inside in a very long time, she told herself.  But even as she heard the words spoken in a mocking tone inside her head, her heart began to race, her nerves were on edge, and her senses had heightened.  The girl only went a few feet more before turning around, rather quickly, and hurrying back the way she had came.  Though she knew she was alone, for she had not seen any other living thing - human or otherwise - Mouse had the very strong sensation of being watched.  Every few feet she would look back over her shoulder.  Though one part of her brain knew she was being ridiculous and that no one was there, no one was watching her, the other half of her brain insisted that there was in fact somebody there in the darkness, that they had been watching her intently as she slept, and they were watching her now.  

"Phew!  Crazy," the teen muttered under her breath as she cast one last look back down the hall she had just been exploring.  Now she really wanted to know what was at the end of that long, dark and dank hall.  But she knew all too well about the saying of curiosity killing the womprat.  Mouse had no desires to traverse that creepy hall again no matter how much she wanted to open the proverbial Palpatine's box.  Still, there were other creepy hallways to wander down so Mouse chose the one that appeared to be the seemingly least foreboding.