Be Cool, Relax... And Get On Those Tracks

Posted on Sun Nov 25th, 2012 @ 5:35am by Morgo Le'Shaad & Berry

2,489 words; about a 12 minute read

Chapter: Chapter II: Era's Dawn
Location: Allegan's Hut, Coruscant
Timeline: 1030 (local time), Day 6

OLD

The man's lips thinned in thought, "Well uh, you could stay with me? I mean, " he stuttered, knowing just how it probably sounded to the girl, "My wife and I would be happy to have you in our guest room. It isn't much, but if you need a place to stay...." he trailed off, staring at her uncertainly, "Uh, I mean you did save my life back there."

They turned a corner, only a block away from his house. Increasingly, the streets became narrower and squalid. Garbage littered the dark corners and more and more, signs of people living became more apparent. Coruscant may have been the jewel of the Core, but even a place this grand had its poor and down trodden. Allegan was still thanking his lucky stars that he had a flat on the surface, and not in the under-city beneath Coruscant. Being a Twilighter, though often painted as exciting, was not something a man and his new wife wanted to be.

Berry blinked slowly at him, the words gradually making it to her brain. "Ohhh, that'd be nice...um, do I have to pay a lot of money? 'Cause I need money to eat..."

"I'm offering so that you wouldn't have to pay. Though I must ask...what is your name?"

The part-Aquar grinned him, her braid and half-braid bobbing with her steps. "My name's Berry Z. Fieros, and I'm gonna be the Pirate Champion!"

NEW

Berry awoke on a pallet bed of some sort on the floor. She loved it, and curled up even more, a contented smile on her face. The blanket was a bit scratchy, but she didn’t care—it sure beat woven palm leaves, especially when the ants started attacking and calling it theirs…

She scratched at her nose and nestled into the lumpy bed, before suddenly her nose twitched again. Nose, stop it! Someone’s trying to sleep here. Her lids opened again, dark eyes slowly sliding her gaze around the place.

It was a modest sized room, a bit cramped in the corners but still enough room to walk around. Her bag lay next to her with her pocket belt draped over it. Hmm…what kind of apartment was this? How much did it cost? But more importantly…

What were those food smells her nose was alerting her to? Berry sat up, blinking sleepily as her gaze fought her efforts to focus it. She couldn't sleep anymore anyway...for the past hour she had that uncomfortable feeling back again, but it was worse. Like she was mad...or someone was. Someone she could feel. She tried not to think on it too hard or she'd get fussy...

She was on a simple bed of some kind, lumpy and old and probably reserved for an extra family member long since passed on. The musty smells of the room belonged to someone, but they were here no more. Berry stretched her golden-green arms above her, still in her fluttery green seagrass shirt (she must’ve been so tired she didn’t change into her pajama seaweeds). She rolled out of the bed, barefeet hitting the floor, and she padded out to the door and poked her head out. The smells got stronger, and so she wandered out into strange territory.

"Berry?" a woman's voiced called, "Berry, is that you?"

Berry's eyes widened and she lost all her stealth as she exclaimed, "Eeehh? How do you know my name??" She popped out of the hall way, completely surprised.

The woman that had called for her turned around from her place at the nano-wave stove, dark hair held up in a casual bun and a kind smile on her face. With one hand griping the handle of an old pan and the other hand using a ladle to stir whatever it was she was frying, it was clear where that heavenly smell was coming from. Already on the table sat a bowl full of strange greens and salads, freshly chilled with drops of water condensation on the leaves themselves. Orange rings of a tart fruit sat sliced and mixed into the salad, complete with a clear pink dressing that had the consistency of honey, but smell of freshly ground chili peppers and grapefruit.

Next to that was a plate of steaming white dough dumplings, each of them being the width of two fingers—bite size. On the side, one of the dumplings had been sliced in half to reveal the stuffing. Berry found it full of slices of juicy mushroom, sweet red sausage, and a tiny, blue boiled egg of what could've only belonged to a reptile....or a miniature chicken.

"Good morning, Berry." The woman at the stove said finally, not missing how her guest was already devouring the food with her eyes.

It took Berry a while before she could tear her gaze away. "Uh...hi?" Her eyes widened. "Can I eat this?" She sat down anyway. "And how do you know my name??" Her eyes were still wide as she clasped her hands together, as if keeping them from sweeping the food off the table and into her mouth.

The woman nodded, "My husband told me your name, Berry. He's the one you saved yesterday night." an expression of pure gratitude crossed her lightly lined face, "So to show just how grateful I am, I made all this for you. Eat however much you want to, Berry."

Berry laughed merrily and clapped her hands. "Thanks!!" Yeah, that made sense. She grabbed a couple dumplings and threw them into her mouth, chomping with vigor. "Hey, dis ish good!" After a few minutes of eating Berry looked around. "Uh, where's that Al guy? Is he okay?" As she waited for an answer she dove into the salad, super excited to crunch on some greens finally (it had only been half a day since the Skydome Salad Stuffing incident).

"Oh, Allegan is at the clinic, he left this morning. I'd imagine they'll put a cast on his hand and give him something for the pain after resetting his nose." a pained look crossed the woman's features before she looked at Berry, "It's thanks to you that he survived at all."

Berry gave the woman a warm and genuine smile—which she always gave to almost every stranger she met. "Yeah, don't mention it. This food is yummy so I should thank YOU for it." She giggled at that funny turn of events and chomped on some more food. After a few seconds she finally asked, "Wait, so why did that guy go and beat up Alungand??"

"Allegan....well he..." the woman trailed off, eyes downcast. Distractedly, she turned off the nano-wave stove and scraped a stir fry from the pan as she chewed her lip, "...You must understand that my husband is a racer and a gambler. He's racked up considerable debt to some people that don't appreciate not being paid on time. And well, Alllegan isn't exactly the kind of person who thinks much of the future....or deadlines." Turning and setting the stir fry (which consisted of tender meat and a curious jumble of sweet and savory blossoms)on the table before Berry, the woman pushed a lock of dark hair behind her ear, "That man, Chip, was going to collect what Allegan owed his boss, Dega. And now because of his hand he won't ever be able to pay it off."

The woman's blue eyes were wide as her lower lip trembled. But then she shook her head and valiantly put on a face of contentedness, a smile on her face....even if it was a bit tight, "Ah, but what am I doing?" she exclaimed in an exasperated voice, "Laying all my troubles on my guest? What a horrible hostess I'm being!"

"Hostess?" Berry asked with a mouth full and head tilted. "Nah, you don't hafta do that." She grinned at the lady. "You can be a cook, though! This is good stuff." She nibbled on a leaf. "My cook back home, oh man, he wasn't a hostess at ALL. He'd always kick me away from the food box and yell at me for eating too much."

She giggled to herself and then smiled at the lady. "I sense you've got a lot more on your plate than food, though...and that Alungand doesn't do this for fun. I got some bones broken once and MAN it wasn't fun!" She popped another dumpling in her mouth and chewed. "Whatcha gonna do when another Chip comes along?"

The woman's smile was faint, "Well I suppose I'll have to find a job in the undercity I suppose, if I can't find one up here, to pay off Allegan's debts. He'll have to as well. There's no way he can race anymore with a hand like that, at least for the time being."

"Race??" Berry repeated, eyes widening. "What's he racing in? Is he good? Who's gonna race for him now?" She shoved the last of the dumplings into her face as she sat there, expectantly waiting answers.

"Allegan is a swoop-bike racer." she answered, figuring by the yellow-green skin of Berry that she probably wasn't familiar with such things, "In these races, bets are made on who people hope will win. The winners take the money and the losers get none. That is, if they aren't being paid off to lose. With Allegan's hand though, I don't know how long he'll be out of commission. He may never be able to race again if the damage is permanent."

Berry frowned, disappointed as well. "That's too bad..." Money and bets, huh? "I think I have some money, do you want some?" She opened a pocket and started rummaging for chips inside it.

The woman frowned, "Oh no, Berry, it'll be fine. Its.....its the long term I'm worried about."

Just then the front door opened with a small hiss, the figure of Allegan loping through the doorway a cast on his arm and hand, and a cast for his nose too, that extended over the bridge of his nose and flat across his forehead.

Berry grinned, waving in greeting. "Hey, Alungand! Want some food? It's yours and it's reeeaaally good."

Somewhat startled that someone was sitting at his table, it took the man a moment to recognize just who it was. He smiled as much as the cast on his face permitted, "We have to thank thank Carja for that." he beamed at his wife before sitting down, eyes brightening as he took in the absolute feast, knowing the occasion was simply him being alive, "Don't mind if I do." he muttered as he hooked a napkin around his collar and tucked...with his left hand.

Berry stared at his face as she grabbed a salad leaf. "Hey, what's wrong with your face?"

"Oh um," Allegan started awkardly, "My nose was broken yesterday night, uh, when Chip punched my face twice? It was right before you helped me," he set his fork and spoon down and gave her a meaningful look, "You know you didn't have to do that, and risk your life."

Berry grinned, nodding. "Nah, it was fine! I would've helped anyone. Even that Chip guy." Her brows lowered, making her expression more mischievous. "Of course, before beating him up for being a meanie."

Allegan's eyes widened in surprise. If this girl was speaking the truth, it was possible that he'd found the most kind and honest person on Coruscant—Jedi included.

"But you know," the man went on wryly, smirking a bit, "I would've appreciated it if you came to save me a little bit sooner." Lifting his injured hand (in a cast), "I won't be able to race anymore because of this."

From the kitchen sink, Allegan's wife Carja whipped around and barked at him, "Allegan! How dare you be so rude to our guest! She saved your life!"

But the man waved her off, "Nah, Berry doesn't mind, do you?" he asked, slinging his good arm around her shoulders in a merry manner.

Berry giggled, smiling at him. "Yeah I guess I was so sleepy so I couldn't get to you fast enough."

As Berry spoke, however, the man's eyes lit up with an idea, "Say, you know you're pretty fast yourself. And your reflexes are superb, as far as I can tell." Tentatively looking at his wife, he quieted his voice a little, "What do you say about racing for me? Eh? You'd be great!"

"Allegan Fordsor Hojon!" his wife stomped over to him, fuming, "This will not be borne! Swoop-bike racing is dangerous! I will not allow you to use my guest and get her killed, all so you can pay off your gambling debts!"

Berry laughed amusedly, popping a dumpling in her mouth. Then she gazed over at him. "Hey, why do you gamble anyway if you don't have money?"

The room fell silent and Allegan had the decency to look sheepish, "Well, I suppose its something of a habit. But I win sometimes! And when I do, I win big. But I don't always win, ans that's where the debts come from." he sighed, "Gambling is great for a quick buck, you know?" he looked over at Berry, who could've only been all of 18 or 19 years old. Hardly been out in the world long enough to see and experience all the vices of the world, "On second though, you probably don't."

The part-Aquar laughed again. "Yeah, I don't really use money...people always keep giving it to me or they just give me free food so I don't need money to buy it." She chuckled as if it was normal and to maybe prove a point munched on some fruit.

Some silence entered the conversation, with the wife simmering some anger toward her loser husband.

Berry swallowed, and she tilted her head at Al. "Hey, if I race for you will you guys give me more food?"

Allegan smiled and opened his mouth, "Well—"

"Berry, "Carja interrupted, taking a step forward, "You don't want to do this. Swoop bike racing is dangerous and only for the experienced. You could be killed!"

The young woman just smiled up at Carja. "Yeah, that's happened to me a lot before. If it happens again maybe with a BANG is better," she mused, smiling amusedly. Rather than getting her head chopped off ha!

The woman still looked rather tense, but seemed to accept that answer. She knew those carpe diem types. She was married to one.

Allegan spoke up, "Are you sure Berry?"

Berry laughed, grinning at them. "Yeah, of course! This food is soooo good." She beamed a grateful smile to the lady. "Thank you!"

He grinned, beaming, "Then to the practice track, it is." He laughed heartily, " Follow me."

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