Mirage ~ All Welcome

((You may have escaped scene shift LB, I think there are a couple of more posts to go before that happens. I could be wrong though, I'll go back and recount shortly))




She pulled back abruptly and wrung out her apron as the elf decided to introduce himself.

"My name? Are you going to complain about my shoddy service?" She asked, a shadow of fear tinging her voice. "I really am sorry about the drink. Someone bumped me from behind."

The waitress looked nervously over her shoulder for a moment and then composed herself once again.

"Loi. That's my name." She gazed sternly at the elf for a few moments before continuing. "I'll get you another drink. Perhaps two to make up for.. uh.. what happened."

Before Gabriel could answer Loi made her away through the bustling crowd. She returned shortly, drink tray laden with various colored beverages. Careful to make sure no one bumped into her again, Loi gently placed the tray before Gabriel and gave a curt bow.

"To make up for any inconvenience."

The grinning waitress invited herself to a seat across from Gabriel and offered him a long narrow glass filled with a bubbly blue liquid.

"Cheers."

________________________


"Ha."

Malyss uttered the sound in a bored tone as Bennington screamed in the dirt. It was the closest thing to laughter as she would ever allow, aside from the maniacal laughter that accompanied a particularly brutal and successful offensive.

She leapt down from the the tree and landed silently upon the barren earth and like a shadow through shadows and made to the forest's edge. She watched the men for a while, wondering if she should interfere. After what had happened she figured they would try to attack if she revealed herself. And there it was, the reason to step out from the shadows. She wanted to see if they were still jumpy enough to strike out. She adjusted her hood and cloak to conceal herself adequately.

"GOOD SHOW!"

The cloak figure appauded as it stepped out from the thick shrubbery skirting the forest. "Especially the ending, with the guy screaming like a little girl in the dirt."




This is the 21st post after the last Scene Shift :D

Gabriel didn’t have time to speak up before she left to seek out a replacement for the drink she had split on him. He didn’t mind it really, and had no intention of reporting her as he understood how careless others could be. While she was gone he worked on cleaning himself up, the result being a small pile of wet napkins sitting in a pile at the edge of the table, against the wall.


The elf glanced up just in time to take notice of her return, as well as all the drinks on the tray. There was a glimmer in his eyes as he hoped they were all for him, though he had his doubts that they all were when the waitress took a seat. That didn’t bother him any, some company while drinking would be nice, with the added bonus of being able to call this all social drinking rather then drinking to get drunk.


“Well, that’s mighty kind of you to bring these drinks over here. Interesting name, I don’t believe I’ve ever heard that one before. Your service is hardly shoddy, some people would do well learning a little respect for when a lady is passing with a drink laden tray though.”


He smiled and accepted the drink from her and with a smile, he returned her ‘cheers’ and downed the entire thing at once. He opened his eyes wide for a moment as the curious liquid made its way down into his belly. He hadn’t had a blue bubbly drink before, though his experince with colored drinks said they were supposed to be fruity. This one wasn’t as fruity as he had hoped it’d be.


“Well now, that was certainly an interesting drink. What else have you got on that nifty little tray of yours? Something delicious I hope!”

"Who are you?" Remy asked. When there was no answer, he repeated himself. Again, silence.
"Why do you sit still while this man dies! Show yourself, coward!" Remy yelled. When he was again greeted with silence, he stood up.
"Show yourself!"

I thoguht the scene change system worked every 25 posts, like, at numbers 25 and 50 and 75. But apparently, it's 25 on-topic posts?

25th post after the scene change.
I knew I should have worded that better.
:oops:


Loi bit her fingernail for a few moments as she tried to pick out another drink for Gabriel.

"How about... this one?"

The girl very carefully picked up a shot glass filled with something that could easily pass for molten lava and offered it to the elf.

"I hear this one has a nice after burn to it. I wouldn't know though. I've never been brave enough to try it."

__________________________


"Give me a good reason to assist you and perhaps I'll feel generous enough to put the man out of his misery."

Malyss stepped nearer to the men but did not reveal herself to Remy and Bennington just yet.

"He's done you no harm. You've no right to come in here and refuse him help, and even go so far as to threaten his life. Help us, or go away." Remy snarled, drawing his sword.
"I will protect this man to the death. And I have a knack for doing just that. You have to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky?" Remy shouted, and still, no one answered.

"Well, do you?"

“…after burn?”

He raised an eyebrow catiously and held up his hand, pushing the drink backwards towards the tray.

“Maybe save that one for later…”

His response was a bit uneasy, but he took to eying up the other drinks quickly.

“Anything that’ll go down easy and has a good taste?”

"Luck has nothing to do with anything."

Malyss's gloved hand reached in the direction of Remy's sword. She was no expert at manipulating elements but could do so enough to will the molicules of the man's sword to vibrate at a continually faster pace. The swords metal heated none too quickly, just fast enough to let the creature know the sword would soon sear it's flesh.

Her free hand found it's weapon. Malyss drew it out from under her robes. The saber's blood red blade snap hissed to life and she pointed it at Remy.

"Go ahead and try your luck. I'm not foolish enough to place my life in the hands of such a primative concept as... luck.

As she took a step forward everything locked in the realm halted.


_________________________________________


The scenery around the trio bled away to leave a vast expanse of white. A new scene splashed across the blank canvas, one that was similar to the previous landscape with it's lush greenery and yawning blue skies. But this was no longer a fantasy land. Malyss, Remy and Bennington were now trapped in times Medievel. This was a world Kings and Queens and Knights on religious crusades. It was a time steeped in superstitions, the struggle for survival and a legions of suffering.

As the scene change came to it's conclusion, it's occupants still frozen and unaware of what was transpiring all around, a dust devil of red sand whirled into the space between Malyss and Remy. The dust took the basic form of a human and it stared Malyss in the face. The dust creature's hand moved to Malyss's face, caressed it. As it's gritty fingers moved down the Sith Lady's cheek a wispy red glow was teased out from her flesh. The light was absorbed into the sand creature as it fell apart and whirled back into a dust devil. A moment later it died away. As the last grains of it's scarlet sand fell to the earth the scenery was brought back to motion.

The entire shift had taken a millisecond and would seem instantaneous to those in the midst of it.

Inside Mirage things went on as normally they did, various species of beings moved about, laughing and conversing. None knew that the outer world had changed as the building, Mirage, was the only constant.

However, when the creatures left the establishment they would step back into whichever world their minds remembered escaping from. Unless, of course, they knew of this realm's unstable ways and expected to step out into a new experience.

_____________________________________________

At Gabriel's table Loi looked about herself suddenly. She'd been around long enough to sense the shifts in the outside world. She focussed on the elf again.

"Yes after burn. Of course, if you're not brave enough to try it either, I understand. Only the heartiest of creatures dare down that drink."

She selected a syrupy red drink in a bulbous glass and passed it to Gabriel.

"Perhaps this one is more suited to your effeminate palate." She grinned impishly, "I know I like it. It is a mix of ten of the sweetest berries ever discovered. They are frozen and then fermented to create a sweet bouquet of the most delicious wine your taste buds will ever have the privilege of tasting. It's sweetness masks it's high alcohol content. Bottoms up."

“What? Effemative? Me? Hardly, you must be mistaking me for someone else. I simply like to save the drinks with strong after burns for last, ‘tis all really.”

He eyed up the thick looking liquid that was said to be made of the sweetest berries ever. He was a little suspicious of her after that impish little grin, she was likely to give him a drink with a strong after burn but not mention it this time…but the promise of such a sweet liquid caressing his taste buds was too tempting to risk not trying because of some burn.

“I think…that drink will prove to be just fine.”

With a large grin he accepted the drink from her and took the thick red liquid into his mouth, swishing it around on his tongue for a few moments to really get the full taste out of it before swallowing it and setting the glass down. It was brilliant! He blinked a few times and glanced around, almost conspiratorially as if he didn’t want anyone else to know of the drink.

“Have you anymore of that?”

As the scene suddenly changed to a different land, Bennington threw his head back, laughing hysterically. Tears ran down his face, as he pointed at Malyss, and occaisionally swept a hand around to indicate the area aroudn them. Once he regained some control, he spoke.

"You're going to try to take on a Lord and a Marquis... hahahahahaa.... in the... hahahahahaha... Middle Ages? Hahahhahaha..." Bennington laughed, and playfully punched Remy in the leg with every syllable of laughter.

"Isn't that just a fucking hoot, Remy? Bloody hell, I can't stop laughing..." Bennington giggled ferociously. Then, with his good arm, he stood and began to walk away.

"What was that about luck, Miss?" he said over his shoulder, as Remy snarled and threw his scalding sword to the ground.

"Of course there's more of that." Loi said cheerily. "But it is very expensive. That one, as all of these, are courtesy drinks to make up for the little mishap with the first drink that I knocked over."

Very gingerly she picked up another glass, this one the size of a shot glass. Inside of it a crystal clear liquid sparked in the light.

"Try this one. It's called Seduction. It fills your entire body with a delightful warmth. Some claim it's almost as wonderful as the after glow of... uh... relations with someone you love."

Loi grinned in a somewhat shy manner.

"I wouldn't know about either sensation. You'll have to be the judge of after effects of the drink, yourself."


----------------------------------------------


"Giggling bitches." Malyss muttered as the creatures moved away. "Much smarter than I anticipated though. They prove to possess a scrap or two of common sense by walking away."

She yawned and disengaged her light saber. She wouldn't waste her weapon's energy on such unworthy subjects. Just as Malyss holstered her saber the fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She spun, cloak whirling, and snatched an arrow out of mid air.

Just faintly she could sense threat lurking just behind the trees in the nearby forest. She snapped the arrow and turned to face the new assailants.

A new shower of arrows sped through the air toward her. The Lady Sith raised her hands, palms facing the oncoming projectiles. She attempted to slow the primative barrage by way of her Lordly abilities. The arrows did not slow, they rained down around her, spearing into the dirt all around as she managed to dodge all but one. She looked down at her thigh, the end of an arrow protruded from it.

"What the HELL!" She hissed as she quickly snapped the tail of the arrow off. Malyss reached around and grabbed the arrow head and yanked it's shaft out of her thigh. The pain was minimal, not even enough to savor.

"Kill it! Tis a creature born of devilry." Some anxious male voice echoed through the forest.

Before Malyss could respond another hail of arrows sliced through the air toward her. Again she tried to Force the arrows away but found she could only focus on one arrow at a time.

"You want devilry... I'll show you devilry." She yelled.

The light saber hissed to life again. She whirled it out ahead of her so it blurred into a crimson shield of light. Any arrow that came into contact with the laser shield was splintered or knocked aside. In the aftermath she wondered what the hell had happened to her ability to manipulate that force that bound all life together. Her control had diminished considerably. But even with powers tempered Malyss would hunt down and kill the forest bores like the mud grubbing swine that they were. They had pissed her off to just the right degree.

Gabriel listened quietly, considering ordering several more of the fruity drinks that tasted like liquid pleasure flowing down his throat, but he knew he couldn’t afford them and the waitress seemed so nice that he couldn’t just order them and screw off like he had done days previously. His eyes took in the sight of the sparkling liquid, enjoying the sight of it as well as the name. It might have been his inebriated state, but the name sounded simply delicious, but the innocence expressed by the waitress…well, that was much more delicious sounding.

“You don’t know? Well, that’s alright. I don’t quite know the sensation myself, traveling alone does that to a person.”

He grinned slyly as he accepted the drink, curious to see if it really would warm his entire body. The previous drinks were doing a good job of giving him full body warmth, but he was certain if this drink could do it he would feel it. He tossed his head back and downed the contents of the shot glass. She was right; he could practically feel the warmth spreading throughout his body with each pump of his heart.

“That…is quite the drink, Ma’am. Why don’t you have a drink with me? I’ve drank alone for so long..”

Hearing the sound of arrowfire, Bennington hesitated. He turned around, and ran at Malyss, knocking the saber from her hand as she dealt with the archers.

He spoke to the crowd in a faux English accent.
"Take the demon's weapon and destroy it! Quickly!" he yelled.
"Who the hell are you?" a man asked.
"I'm Lord Bennington Croftworthe VII, and if you think this," he motioned to Malyss, "has some tricks up its sleeve, you'll be blown away to meet me. Destroy the weapon. Bash it to bits with a hammer or something. Quickly, before she summons it."

Bennington turned to Malyss, and whispered, "If you'd like to make something of this, I can turn this whole bloody kingdom on you. Plus, the tides of fate," he nodded his head toward Remy, "and whatever secrets I have up my sleeves. Sit with me for a bit. Talk to me. You intrigue me, you know. I'll turn you loose if you cooperate. Hell, I might be able to help with whatever you're looking for here."

Loi gave Gabriel's proposal some thought and then grinned in a sorrowful way.

"Sorry. I can't drink with you while I'm on the job. Company rules. But later I'd be glad to join you."

She sat back a bit and relaxed some, eyes darting from drink to drink as she decided which to offer up next. Her fingers wrapped around the delicate stem of a crystal wine glass. Loi picked it up and tipped the glass this way then the other. The silver tinged liquid inside swirled lazily in it's vessel, the slight momentum made the liquid glitter like near microscopic diamonds were suspended in the fluid.

"This," she announced as her eyes moved to Gabriel's. "is called Divine Sorrow. I'm not sure what this one is made of. It's one of the odder drinks served here and I don't know where it's imported from." She leaned closer to the elf. "There is a wonderful little story that says this drink is acutally the tears of a heart broken goddess. There are many stories about how she lost her beloved and all are morbidly romantic. The end result is her unable to do anything but weep for all eternity for her lost love. It's a silly story really, for who'd want to pay for and drink the sorrow soaked body fluid of some unknown creature?"

Loi gave the glass another tip forward and back. The liquid inside sparkled again in response and she passed it on to Gabriel.

"Why do you travel alone? Life is so abundant. I find it hard to believe that one can still remain so alone in this day and age."



___________________________________________



After Bennington's attack and proposition Malyss, ever the irate, shoved the man away with one hand as her other out streched toward her fallen weapon. With all her remaining power she willed the weapon to spin wildly and soar across the landscape toward the row of men that had been foolish enough to leave the cover of forest while thinking they were about to aprehend her.

In all of 5 seconds the red disc of light saber effortlessly zipped toward the men and decapitated them all as if the weapon were a laser saw. Then like a boom a rang the weapon whirled back to Malyss's iron grip. She spun and deactivated the light saber while she issued a clean round house kick to Bennington's chops.

"Don't EVER touch me."

She turned her attention back to the forest.

"I don't need your help. I've survived worse. Overthrowing the ignorant civilizations here should prove quite entertaining. A little work out at the most."

A horn sounded in the distance and behind that grew the low roll of hooves thundering across the earth. In the far distance the first few horses mounted the horizon and charged onward toward her. Bennington and Remy were still behind her and ahead was the forest from which a new barrage of arrows darkened the heavens.

"Quite the work out indeed." She muttered and ripped the cloak from her body to reveal her feminine shape clad in worn mud brown leather. Her silver eyes sparked. The barest hint of a grin twitched at the corners of her still swollen lips. She knew most primitive societies oppressed the alleged weaker sex.

Let them try oppress her, even in her weakened conditions she knew she could mow down the best of their kind.

It was a sad story, indeed, that Loi told him about. He found himself fascinated with the liquid as he turned the story over in his mind. Romantically tragic tales had always caught his interest and this one was no different. Even without the story behind the name, it was likely he would have ordered the drink just from hearing such a name. It wasn’t that he delighted in others suffering, just that he could relate to them on some level.

He glanced up when she finished speaking, but only long enough to meet her eyes as if accepting her question, before turning his gaze back to the liquid. Most of the time he stayed away from others and was able to avoid such a question, but he hated when it did come up. He was never quite sure how to answer, he couldn’t tell the truth and lying wasn’t the easiest thing in the world; even when dealing with strangers.

“I am not sure I could properly explain why I travel alone, life is abundant true…but most…”

The elf just shook his head in a manner of sorrow and took the drink. He was glad for her company, one could never see just how alone they were until they were in the company of someone they enjoyed. The wine glass was chill in his hand; he rose the glass slowly and drank in the liquid. His fingers curled a little from the taste, it was a strange one that left him wondering if her tale really was true. If romantically sorrowful tales had a taste, it would be the bitter sweetness of that drink.

“Regardless of those that surround me, I feel I’ll always be alone. You see, I can be surrounded by people and still be alone, I guess maybe I’m just a solitary person.”

He gave a half hearted smile as he looked to her, his eyelids drooping for a few seconds as the alcohol in his system was making sure to take hold.

((sorry for the slowness of my response.. just nabbed a few spare minutes)

The music shifted suddenly from it's light and airy lilt to something medieval. The tune was spun mostly of stringed and woodwind instruments. It was a spirited toe tapper of a piece but bore occasional undertones of something ominous.

Loi took note of the music and drummed her nails upon the table top in beat with the tune. She stared down at the remainder of the drinks on her tray while turning Gabriel's words over in her mind. With a sudden grin she selected the drink that looked like lava and offered it to the elf.

"I know how that feels. I was very much secluded from those I lived amidst. That's how I ended up here at this place. I wanted to live, actually live and learn from anyone and anything. Where I was before this... it was rather bland. We had our duties and year in year out and that's it. But I found a way to escape. I escaped to here. And for all it's ups and downs and unpredictability.. Mirage is infinitely more enjoyable than precisely dictated paradise from which I sprung."

The young woman shoved the drink closer to the elf.

"Brave enough tackle this one yet? The after burn isn't all that bad. An unusual medley of pleasure and pain has been reported of this drinks after bite. Of course, if you still don't want to chance it... I totally understand...milady"

Loi swirled the orange molten-like drink in it's glass as she tossed a playful wink Gabriel's way.

Gabriel barely noticed the abrupt change of music, though his ‘dancing’ mood had passed a while ago so it didn’t much bother him that the music changed as well. His eyes focused on Loi’s drumming nails, listening to that repetitive pattern as if it was the only source of that particular beat. The constant tap, tap…tap…He had to blink a few times to force his focus away from such a mind numbing thing.

“Where I came from, it was a very fanciful place…but things changed, as they always do, and I changed…the result being I had to leave, I was driven to leave and I did…hey, wait a minute did you just call me milady?!”

The elf almost seemed angry at what she’d said, but it was the fake anger of an elf rather then the potent anger other species could muster practically on demand. He eyed up the drink carefully, still weary about tasting it and then eyed up Loi suspiciously, as if he thought she was plotting something that had to do with the burn that drink would bring upon his poor, innocent throat.

“I was brave enough to tackle it before, I just didn’t quite feel the need to yet. Ya’know, the wait is said to make things better, right?”

The last word didn’t sound so sure as all the other things he had said and he appeared a little nervous as he accepted the drink from her. His lips suddenly felt dry and his tongue instinctively flicked over his lips to moisten them. He swirled the liquid around in its glass in much the same manner she had, prolonging the drinking of it as long as he could.

“Well,” he said a little shakily, “…bottoms up!”

He tilted the glass back, drinking it as fast as he could and letting it slide over his tongue and down his throat just as quickly. The instant it touched his throat, though, he began coughing. The result was that some of the liquid made its way down his throat and some of it ended up dribbling down his chin. He blushed embarrassedly and began a frantic search for some sort of cloth to wipe up the drink on his chin with.

Blood trickling from his mouth, Bennington snarled.
"My dear lady, what the fuck do you think you're doing?"
Bennington ran after her, throwing himself at her feet and grabbing her ankle. The Sith tripped and Bennington threw his arms around her neck to drag her down. She hit her head on a large, sharp rock. Her eyes rolled back and she collapsed. The side of her head swelled up quickly.
"Hey, someone get out here!" Bennington yelled, "I need a surgeon!"

A wiry man ran out from behind the trees, and knelt down, looking at Malyss' swollen head. He drew out a saw and touched it to her head.
"What the hell are you doing?" Bennington asked.
"We need to let the blood out to reduce the swelling." the man said.
"No! Get ice, or cold water in a bag." Bennington said, appauled.
Remy ran off to fetch something.

Once the swelling came down, the doctor spoke to the crowd.
"When shall we burn the witch?"
"No, what?" Bennington began to protest. Remy remained silent, and the other men drowned Bennington out.
"At noon tommorrow, it is." The little man said in satisfaction.
"Stop! Postpone it. At least long enough to ensure that she still is a threat after that knock to her head.
"How are we to know that you are even a Lord? What are you Lord of? Where are your men?" a man asked. Bennington cleared his throat.
"Well, you see. I'm Lord of.. Eh... well. You know. Lord of.. ehhh.. uhh... ooh.. The... uhh.. Kingdom of.. Middle Earth. Yes! That's it. I'm Lord of the Kingdom of Middle Earth. My men? I have forty thousand men nearby, wiating for my signal. As I was saying, postpone it, or die."
Just then, Malyss' eyes fluttered open.

Loi snickered at the elf and tossed her apron to him so that he could wipe away the dribble on his chin.

She didn't say anything for a few minutes, simply traced her finger around the lip of an empty wine glass. Her eyes grew distant for a few moments before she looked at Gabriel again.

"So, I guess you're not as lady like as I'd first thought."

She picked the last drink from the tray.

"This is your final freebe." the waitress said in a mock sad voice. "Would you like anything else? You seemed to enjoy Divine Sorrow, perhaps I could bring you another. Though, it is quite expensive..."


_________________________________


Malyss awoke, the world nothing but a teary blur, her head ached as if it had been underfoot during a stampede.

She didn't not know what the hell had happened but she did know that the current situation was not a good one.

"Get away from me." She hissed and scampered away from the voices that danced around her head.

The sound of thundering hooves grew closer, she could feel the power of the oncoming charge reverberating in the ground. With a quick swipe of the back of her arm across her eyes Malyss wiped the blurriness from her vision. What met her sight was a massive onslaught of muscle and hooves, topped off by glints of silver and the wild flapping of standards at the head of the mob.

She stood and prepared to try fend them off but from the forest there came a rain of arrows that ripped into the configuration of horses and riders. The great rider bearing beasts rose up onto hind legs, snorting and whinnying as arrows sliced into their flesh. Riders were thrown to the ground, some already dead with the ass end of arrows protruding from various body parts. Malylss watched the dying creatures, a look of morbid fascination plastered on her face.

Then she heard it, or rather felt it, something was zipping toward her. The woman spun, her head swimming for a moment, and raised her left arm to shield her head. An arrow sliced through her forearm, it's tip coming to a halt just before plunging into her temple. She knew she should have been dead but somehow the arrow's progression through her arm and into her head had been halted.

With arrow still protruding from her arm Malyss ran straight into the mess of dying horses and knights, stripped one of the fallen men of their shield and sword much to the surprise of the male creatures all around.

Gabriel caught the apron and used it to dab at the corners of his mouth and wipe his chin clean; ignoring her snickering. He then dabbed at his shirt a little, trying to dry up the small amount that had gotten onto him. He glanced up at her in silence, then went back to cleaning up the mess he made. The Elf couldn’t help but grin when she said he wasn’t Lady like, as she had thought.

“See, told you…and if I order a tray of drinks, would you sit and talk with me as you have been?”

He smiled sweetly, accepting the last drink from her but only holding it. If it was in fact his last and if she wouldn’t sit with him after he was done, well, he wasn’t quite ready to drink it just yet.

Bennington looked up and the horsemen were upon him. Two knights stretched a net between themselves, and Bennington was trapped in the net. As he dragged along the ground, he instinctually grabbed a dagger from his ankle sheath, and slashed his connection to one of the knights. The other knight didn't seem to notice. Bennington crawled out of the hole in the net, and dragged himself up the rope to the knight. He stabbed the knight's horse in the thigh, and the horse flipped over, crushing the knight. Bennington stood shakily, and brushed the dust from his clothing, which had changed to elaborate silk robes when he'd come into the Middle Ages. Drawing his sword, he ran through the battle looking for Malyss. He found her swinging a sword.
"Malyss, what are you doing?" Bennignton yelled.

((For the sake of continuity, lets say Bennington's little shoulder problem was fixed by the surgeon.))

She was about to answer when a group of rowdy young men burst into the place. They halted and took in the odd assortment of patrons within Mirage and backed out, crossing themselves as they did.

Loi shook her head. "I wonder what, in the 13 hells, she's up to...", the waitress mused out loud. She glanced at Gabriel and offered a polite grin. "I can stay and talk a while longer but by the sights of those last lads who came in I think we may have a situation soon to handle."

"Have you been here before? I don't recall seeing you but there is a familiar feel about you. Perhaps its just that all elves sort of look the same that I feel I know you."


______________________


At hearing her name Malyss turned, hacking her sword through the knees of an encroacher as she did. The scent of blood stained the air and seemed to intoxicate her.

"I DON'T KNOW!" she yelled angrily at Bennington as she spun block another sword that nearly found her neck. She pushed the attacker back by sheer force of rabid will and rammed her sword up into the soft underparts of the knight's chin. The tip of the sword cracked out through the top of the man's skull before she withdrew her weapon again. Her frenzied silver eyes then looked to the man who had addressed her.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING but I REFUSE to die like... this." she said bitterly. And in all honesty she didn't know what the hell she was doing or where she was. The pain, the blood and agony that drenched the air fed and fueled the wounded woman. All she knew was it was kill or be killed and she didn't give half a damn who might be friend or foe.

From the forest came another attack, infantry instead of archers. The wave of roaring men approached and Malyss, though sure she could fend them all of if she chose to decided she'd better retreat and try to figure out what was going on. She hacked her way through mess of flailing bodies and snarling horses until she found a beast that was relatively unwounded. She jumped upon it's back, kicking a persuing knight in the face as she did.

"Get me the hell out of here." She snarled, sword still swinging like mad in one hand while her other tugged on the horse's reigns. The creature reared, and tore through the crowd, mowing down unfortunate knights in it's path.

Name: Kyrr Qel Droma

Sex: Male

Species: Human, with Yuuzhan Vong embellishments.

Appearance: An even two meters tall with a muscular build and highly discolored skin turned a dark grayish hue. His left arm and shoulder are covered a dark green organic armor, and are not human in nature. His right eye is missing, leaving an empty, blackened socket, and his remaining eye is a startling blue and does not appear wholly human. His facial features are well-defined and sharp, and he wears his black hair at shoulder length.

Age/Semblant Age: Roughly 30-40 standard years. His exact age is unknown.

Apparel/Possessions: Kyrr usually wears a black jumpsuit with the left arm removed, and a black cloak with dark green lining. He always has a utility belt with the usual assortment of useful items attached, and goes nowhere without his somewhat unusual lightsaber. It is contained within a wholly organic, living hilt, and has no power cell or other electronic parts. Instead, it is designed to utilize Yuuzhan Vong bio-technology, and the only non-living part is the incredibly efficient crystal that is multihued throughout its structure. This allows the lightsaber's blade to be any color Kyrr desires, though he mostly settles for a deep green or blue tint. Kyrr also carries with him a small assortment of Vong technology/organisms, including two amphistaffs that stay coiled about his midsection. He harvested them himself, and they are more an extension of himself than anything else. He has no other weapons.

Short Bio/Powers: Kyrr served the New Jedi Order in the Yuuzhan Vong War, but was captured on a Vong-held world when his fighter was shot down by yorik-et (coralskippers). He lost his left arm and right eye in the crash, and was lucky that the piece of his console that took out his eye didn't continue into his brain. He only survived at all through sheer force of will and by bringing up a wall of Force energy around himself. He didn't get it up in time to prevent the loss of his arm and eye, however. The Vong taught him the true meaning of pain, and he learned a lot from his time with them. He was augmented by their technology, relacing his left arm among other things. During his time in captivity, the Vong came to admire him, and taught him much of their ways, and their style of combat.

He eventually escaped, after two long years, just before the war ended, taking his amphistaffs with him. He returned to the Jedi Order a very different man. Hardened, sardonic, cynical and perhaps a bit cruel now, he finally saw the Jedi for what they had become. Nothing but a political organization, with no time for true justice any more. Disgusted with the state of the Order, he left, but not without argument. Now he is one of the darker denizens of the galaxy, determined to bring justice to all the criminals and evildoers the Jedi do not deem important enough to bother with. He prefers to stick to the shadows, but does not fear the light. He is very strong in the Force, and has no truck with Light Side or Dark Side. He just uses it as he needs to, and to the Nine Hells of Corellia with the consequences.

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Right, so that went a little longer than intended. Now, for the real post. The first half of this is recycled from a story I wrote with this character, if it seems familiar.

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Kyrr Qel Droma walked into the bar, shaking the acid rain from his cloak. It was a dreary day in the upper levels of Nar Shaddaa, as per usual. It fit his mood perfectly, also per usual. Shrugging his cloak off of his broad shoulders, he extended it toward the gawking teen the establishment used for a doorboy. Staring, the boy took it, hesitantly. Why must they always stare... Kyrr thought irritably, flipping a small coin in the doorboy's direction as he stalked to the bar. He knew well what had attracted the boy's gaze; his left arm and shoulder. Captured by the Yuuzhan Vong during the Vong War, he had been `augmented' by his captors before he had the opportunity to escape. The most noticeable of these augmentations was his left arm, being covered in crustacean-like armor a dark green in color, which extended to his shoulder which was covered in a pauldron of the same material.

Shrugging off the unwanted attention as a necessary evil, he tossed a coin down on the bar, calling to one of the six bartenders. "A Lomin ale, and not out of that keg. That one, there," Kyrr said, indicating a keg near one wall. Grimacing, the barkeeper grabbed a tankard and began to tap his drink, shaking his head. This was the good stuff, the stuff only a few select customers knew of. And he'd never seen this character before in his life. Though he would surely remember him now that he had. Hard to forget a Vong-altered human. At least he looked human. Mostly. Kyrr returned the barkeep's distrustful glare with his one usable eye, the empty, blackened socket of the other unnerving even to such a hardened individual as the Devaronian bartender. Surprising, to see a Devaronian tending bar, thought Kyrr idly.

Deciding that staring down a customer was bad for business, especially this particular customer, the Devaronian irritably set the tankard of ale down heavily on the bar, sloshing dark liquid onto the scarred duraplast. Swearing under his breath, the red-skinned humanoid turned to his one other customer, a dark-furred Chadra-Fan. Turning on his stool to survey the cantina, Kyrr glanced over the many alien and human faces. The sign over the door had indicated this place was called Mirage, and the establishment did seem to be of a much higher class than a cantina on this level of the world had any right to be. He'd felt something as he'd passed through the doorway, too. A slight...difference, in the Force. As Kyrr surveyed the other inhabitants of the place, he noticed several species that he had never seen before.

What was this place? He got the sudden impression that were he to step out of the door he'd come in through, he wouldn't find the filthy Nar Shaddaa street anymore. He almost rose to his feet to test the theory, but thought better of it. He knew he was right. It must have been some sort of temporal rift. He'd read about occurrences like this in old records, heard of similar happenings from shamans on backwater planets. He'd been skeptical, of course, but that was then. Taking it in stride, he turned back to his drink. Not much fazed Kyrr Qel Droma these days. If he was here, it was by the will of the Force, and it would do no good to fight it. Besides, evil was everywhere. He could serve the balance of justice as easily here—wherever here was—as in his own dimension.

So he remained on his barstool, and waited for trouble to find him.

She stepped out from the crowd, eyes casually scanning over the various creatures within her realm before her sights laid upon the unique form of the latest patron. Raava approached Kyrr and took up a bar stool beside him.

"Welcome to Mirage, sir. Faring well?" her voice purred while inspecting his left arm. She was curious as to why it looked the way it did. He appeared to be an interesting specimen of humanoid, one that begged further attention. "If there is anything you need feel free to ask. I am Raava, manager of this place," she informed with a gracious wave of her arm to signify the whole of Mirage.

The endless wells of ebon that were her eyes settled on the fascinating man creature before her.

“Bah, they just stumbled into the wrong place. I doubt they’ll be anything to worry about.”

Gabriel leaned closer to the wall at her last question, finding himself unsure of how to answer her. He furrowed his brow a little bit, thinking about the question and feeling the general cloudiness that the drinks had instilled in his mind.

“Yes…I’ve been here a few times…I just, well, I change so often that it's understandable if you don't remember me.”

Kyrr saw her coming and knew she was not what she seemed. He could sense through the Force that the being before him was not just before him, but also elsewhere. A lot of elsewheres. He reached out briefly with the Force, searching, curious...and found more than he'd expected. Nearly every waitress, servant or bartender in this place contained part of the same consciousness this woman did. She wasn't all of them, but she was in them. Like a hidden onlooker tucked away in the back of their minds until she wished to come to the forefront. That's why he hadn't noticed it before; she was only using their senses, not controlling their bodies. For the moment.

Impressed and curious, Kyrr took another draw from his ale before answering with a faint, sardonic smile, “Only manager?” He could tell easily enough from her unabashed gaze that she was curious herself, of his augmented arm. Now finished with the ale, he slowly, intentionally, and with no obvious effort, closed his left hand, crushing the sturdy steel mug into a compact cylinder between his hard-skinned fingers. Without breaking eye contact, he deadpanned, “Oops.”