TWBTS
Rel looked down at Kel as she tugged on his sleeve. "I'll check." He called over the bartender, "Do you have anything non-alcoholic?"
The bartender muttered something about juma juice and Rel figured that would work. "One of those, and a pale ale, please."
"Let the music cast its spell,
give the atmosphere a chance.
Simply follow where I lead;
let me teach you how to dance."
TWBTS
Meav took a sip of her kilju and turned around, leaning against the counter and surveying the tables and the people.
"After so many years," she began musing to Rel, "Donovon's place is going to be hard to find. I don't know if you were aware, but it was supposedly all underground. I'm sure that the shifting sands have given it a new face. I've only heard tales about where it is."
"You lived there," Kel interrupted. Meav kicked her hard. "OW!"
"You're not helpful," Meav whispered as she leaned down to "take a look" at Kel's wound. "Old Man Riley and his friends know everything that's going on around here, but he has to warm up first. Keep. Quiet."
"Ooooh," Kel observed, hopping up on a stool and managing to catch the side of Meav's face with her shoulder. "So sorry! But..." Kel paused, craned her neck to see who Old Man Riley was, and turned back to Meav. "I still think that the whole thing is just a myth. What happened to him? No one knows. Where did his apprentices go? No one knows. The man probably didn't even exist, in which case, his lair of evilness probably doesn't exist either."
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TWBTS
At Meav's hint that they were supposed to act innocent and like they did not know anything about Donovan's base, Rel tried to be inconspicuous and drink his drink. He didn't quite understand why they needed the help was Old Man Riley if they already knew where the base was. Perhaps to get other information not found at the base.
"Let the music cast its spell,
give the atmosphere a chance.
Simply follow where I lead;
let me teach you how to dance."
Meav sighed, then turned to the bartender.
"Did you ever hear of him?" she said, sliding her drink forward and indicating that a refill would be fine. The bartender grunted.
"Many treasure hunters have come through here, looking for his lair, but out of all who have gone out, noooone have returned. Ye three had best leave it alone. It is a hopeless case."
Meav spun her glass meditatively.
"So, it exists?"
"No one knows...."
Meav rolled her eyes.
"Unless this entire town plopped down last year, someone knows. The story goes the devil-man lived here until about five years ago, when he mysteriously disappeared."
"That should be good enough reason for you to leave well enough alone, then," a wild looking old man with piercing blue eyes rose from his seat, and made his way over. "You are fools to try to attempt anything!"
Meav didn't look at him, instead, she continued playing with her glass.
"What happened to him?"
"No one knows. Some say he died, some say his apprentices killed him, others say he turned himself into a horrid creature that plagues the forest."
"When was the last forest plaguing?"
"When the Jedi left."
Meav raised an eyebrow.
"The Jedi?"
"Yes! Donovon was a Jedi. He was full of evil, a child-stealer and soul-eater. He haunts the old place, protecting his treasure. Those who venture too close die. Other Jedi took the children and left him to guard the compound."
Meav stole a glance at Rel to see how he was taking this. Old Man Riley stared at her.
"Don't I know you from somewhere? Aren't you from here?"
Meav's hand froze for a second. She looked back at him.
"I'm from Sayana. I was born there and I grew up there."
"And your companions?"
Meav turned to look at them, wondering for a moment how successful a lie might be, not really knowing what the true answer was.
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TWBTS
"I'm from the core. Dittotopia, originally. Why did treasure hunters try to seek out his lair? Was he a rich jedi?" Rel asked, adopting a Dittotopian accent common to those in the far south, away from the Jedi base, so that the man would not be suspicious that he, too, was a force user.
"Let the music cast its spell,
give the atmosphere a chance.
Simply follow where I lead;
let me teach you how to dance."
Meav breathed a slight sigh of relief. Rel was playing the part well. Riley scowled at her and turned toward Rel.
"Who knows? They say the source of his power is there. He kept souls in a glass box--"
"Check," Kel muttered under her breath.
"--and would send out his apprentices--"
"Check."
"--to steal more souls."
"Uncheck," Kel whispered. Meav took a step back and firmly planted her heel on Kel's toe. Kel gave her a little shove.
"But that doesn't explain why so many people go after his place," Meav mused. "Perhaps you can enlighten us on that?"
Old Man Riley grinned.
"Maybe I could, if a drink refreshed my memory, and a promise eased my poor heartburn."
"What's the promise?" Kel piped up, a little annoyed at being ignored and stepped on.
"To ne'er be foolhardy."
"Good enough," Meav said, motioning to the bartender to provide a drink for Riley. She slid into a chair opposite the old man and looked at him. "We will not be foolhardy."
Riley was busy imbibing the drink. Meav motioned to the bartender to provide another, post haste. It arrived shortly before Riley finished, and Meav's deft fingers had already slipped a small tablet into it. She glanced up at Rel, waiting for him to quiz Old Man Riley. It was Taric's mission, she figured, not hers.
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TWBTS
"Good stuff, eh?" Rel said appreciatively, tapping the newly filled drink. "So," He said, looking at Riley guzzling the liquid, "How do you know that the treasure hunters have disappeared for good after getting too close to this place? Maybe they merely left in their ships from a different location and didn't come back to town. The treasure could be gone."
He took a swig of his own from his glass of ale. "The traps couldn't be too difficult to get past..."
"Let the music cast its spell,
give the atmosphere a chance.
Simply follow where I lead;
let me teach you how to dance."
"Traps? Traps?" Riley slammed down his glass and wiped the foam from his beard and mustache. "Why does he need traps? He has the souls, man, the very souls of every person that goes there! There is no escape from there! Their ships never left, their remains were never found. They are gone, caught into the glass with the other unfortunates. They--" Riley glanced over at the new glass of liquor, and slowly reached for it. He lifted it to his lips and looked over the foam at Rel. "They have all disappeared. None returned to the surface. Their things left for the townspeople to scavenge through. No, man, there is no escape from there."
Riley's focus returned to his drink. Meav turned to Rel.
He is drugged now. His mind is looser. Get the map.
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TWBTS
Rel felt Meav's thoughts prodding him to follow up on the old man, to get more information. "You probably don't want anyone falling into the Jedi's old den, I expect," He said conspiratorially, hands clasped around his cup. "None of your townsfolk, all that. Certainly not yourself. You have a way to get around it, don't you?"
He looked at the man's eyes, hazy now. "Would you mind letting us have a look, to make sure we can avoid it?"
"Let the music cast its spell,
give the atmosphere a chance.
Simply follow where I lead;
let me teach you how to dance."
Old Man Riley didn't say anything, but he gently pulled a worn map out from under his coat and laid it on the checkered table cloth. Meav stared at the map, then pulled out a small device, making the best holographic copy she could. A moment later, it was safely tucked back up her sleeve, out of sight and out of mind. Riley was staring at the map, almost in awe of how it had gotten there.
Meav glanced up at Rel and nodded, happy that everything had gone so well. She turned back to Riley and gently took his hands in her own.
"Thank you, my friend," she said softly. "You have been very kind. I'm sure it will return to you many times over."
Old Man Riley stared at her hands and fingered the brace on her wrist for a second.
"So familiar..." he muttered. Meav frowned and pulled away.
"Oh, this old thing? Style statement back in Sayana. Most of the women wear them, if they can afford it. Come, Kel, Taric, I think it is time we go."
She nodded at Riley and stood, turning to the door.
"Sayana....Kel....." Riley muttered again. His head jerked up as the bell over the door rang. "Where you going??"
"To explore your town," Meav called over her shoulder.
"You promised not to be a fool!"
"That I did," Meav smiled. "And I won't be. Rest now, friend. I will see you on the other side."
Old Man Riley sunk back into his chair, and stared after them. The bartender watched him as he methodically wiped down the counter and gathered the dirty glasses. Finally, he came over to Riley.
"You going to do anything about them?" he asked. Riley stared vacantly.
"I know them...the women. But from where? I do not remember the man at all," he shook his head, then caught sight of the map. "What in....."
Riley leaned forward and peered at the map. In the corner was a small inscription--MCDS: copy. He leaped up, his chair flying backwards.
"Donovon's witch. His apprentice. I was a fool to not see that it was her. Identical."
"She witched you, that she did," one of Riley's old companions said, still sitting where he was when the threesome had first arrived. "Witched us all. Taint your fault. We just best not be letting her revive his operation."
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TWBTS
They exited the small pub swiftly and melted into obscurity on the street. Riley hadn't seemed too keen on them leaving just after seeing the map, and Rel didn't blame him. He'd seemed genuinely frightened by what the sith had done on Hana, which gave Rel an uncomfortable feeling inside. Was Donovan the reason that Meav was able to kill so easily?
"Where to?" He asked, breaking out of his own thoughts.
"Let the music cast its spell,
give the atmosphere a chance.
Simply follow where I lead;
let me teach you how to dance."
Meav moved quickly and expertly through the people.
"Out of town, up toward the river. That was my old hideout. We can reach the outskirts of Donovon's place that way. Here, see?" Meav pulled out the small screen and held it out to Rel, the map easily apparent. She pointed to a spot with the long nail of her little finger. "That's where we are. Here," --the finger moved--"is where I usually stayed. The entrance to Donovon's place is here. It caved in long ago, but it should still be passible."
Meav turned and swiftly made her way out of the town and into the cooler, comfortable streamside area. It was one of the few quite green areas of Hana. Kel shuttered.
"You sent me away here," Kel whispered. Meav nodded.
"Yeah," she said softly. "You nearly drowned here."
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TWBTS
Rel gave the map a quick look, memorizing the details. "I've got it. Are we to go in straight away?"
He listened to Kel and Meav's exchange and wondered if Meav knew, from having Kel nearly die, what the sense of loss of someone entrusted to your care felt like.
"Let the music cast its spell,
give the atmosphere a chance.
Simply follow where I lead;
let me teach you how to dance."
Meav shrugged.
"Sure, why not? I doubt there is anything extra to be gained by being sneaky, except suspicion."
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TWBTS
Rel nodded in agreement. He thought this wise advice, and he closed his eyes to line his mental image of the map with his memory of the town as he had seen it from the spacecraft and from walking through. As the images clicked together, he struck off at a brisk pace in the direction of the hideout. To his estimation, it wouldn't take too long to get there, if they didn't run into any trouble.
"Let the music cast its spell,
give the atmosphere a chance.
Simply follow where I lead;
let me teach you how to dance."