In Disguises No One Knows
Chapter 4: Kashyyyk, Gordin Reach
Carth slipped out of the cockpit after finishing setting the course for Kashyyyk and went in search of Eilis. He found only Mission and Zaalbar sitting in the common room and was about to ask them where the smuggler was when he heard the dim clash of lightsabres coming from the direction of the swoop hangar.
Frowning, he headed towards the hangar and entered to find Canderous leaning against the swoop bike stored in the hangar, iron gray eyes focused on the pair sparring in the middle of the room.
Eilis, wearing only her leather pants over her jumpsuit, slashed her lightsabre at Juhani, who was wearing only the undermost part of her Jedi robes. The Cathar leapt back, parrying the blue blade away with her own then slipping her blade back in underneath it. Eilis flicked the tip away before it hit her stomach and lashed out with her bare foot at Juhani, nearly striking her in the face.
The Cathar’s upper body arched backwards to avoid the attack and her left hand came up, grabbing Eilis’ ankle. She then twisted it to the side and Carth expected to see the smuggler crumble.
But she had leapt at the same moment Juhani had twisted her leg, rotating her body around to send her other foot lashing out at the other Jedi’s forehead. The blow sent the Cathar stumbling and Eilis ended up landing completely wrong on her ankle, sending her crashing to the floor of the hangar. Both of their lightsabres turned off as they dropped them almost simultaneously.
As she sat and clutched at her sprained ankle, cursing fluently in Duros, the pilot heard Canderous laugh. The injured party glared at the Mandalorian but took his offered hand when he strode over to her. Eilis placed her weight gingerly on her ankle and winced then looked over at Juhani, who was still reeling from her kick.
“You okay?”
“I am fine,” replied the Cathar as she got to her feet. She straightened her deep red robes then bowed towards Eilis, saying, “You fight well.”
“So do you,” said Eilis. “Though I think I’ve got to work on my landings. How’s your head?”
Juhani smiled, briefly flashing her fangs. “It will heal.”
“Glad to hear.”
The smuggler looked up then and saw Carth standing in front of the corridor. A smile twitched across her lips and she cheerily said, “Hey, flyboy! Come to join the fun?”
Canderous rumbled a laugh and said, “You’re not going to be having anymore fun on that ankle.”
“Ordo’s right,” said Carth, walking over to her. He then knelt down and laid a hand on her calf, using the other to slide the bottom half of her pants up to look at her ankle. “Now, I’m no medic, but I know enough to be able to tell you to stay off this for a while.”
He stood then and looked at Juhani, frowning at the slowly forming bruise on the side of her head.
“I can take a look at that too,” he said. “Though it doesn’t look like it’s going to be much more than a lump for a few days then a bruise.”
The Cathar inclined her head and murmured, “I will meet you in the medical bay.” She vanished down one of the two corridors attached to the swoop hangar and Canderous shook his head.
“Cathar…” he muttered before leaving Carth and Eilis alone in the hangar bay.
There was a moment of silence then she smirked and said, “Well, Doctor Flyboy, how long should I stay off my ankle?”
“I think it’ll be okay once we get to Kashyyyk. That’s a couple of days away now.”
“Goody goody. Guess I have to report to the medical bay now, eh?”
She smirked at him then took a step, staggering a second later. Carth grabbed her before she fell and held her as she got her balance back.
Eilis grimaced and said, “Guess I can’t report to the med bay…” Her head was leaning towards his shoulder and he could feel her warm breath on his neck.
“Sure you can,” disagreed Carth and grinned as he bent slightly and caught her around the back of the knees. She shrieked as he picked her up, her arms grappling at his neck at the unexpected motion. He chuckled as he started towards the medical bay and she punched him in the sternum.
Wincing, he silently marveled at how much strength there was in the lithe smuggler’s body. Then again, she had punched him with her droid arm… Out loud, he said, “Oh, I think you hurt my man feelings with that one, beautiful.”
Blue eyes narrowed at him and Eilis’ index finger weaved in front of his face.
“I’ll do more than hurt your man feelings the next time you do that when I’m not expecting it, you hairless Wookiee!”
“ ‘Hairless Wookiee?’ ”
“Hairless Wookiee!”
“Who is a hairless Wookiee?” warbled Zaalbar from the common area.
“No one!” bellowed both Eilis and Carth back. Then they heard Mission giggle and the Wookiee rumble a laugh, which made both of them sigh.
The smuggler shook her head and said, “Great. Give you three guesses what Mish is giggling about and the first two don’t count.”
“Let’s go fix up that ankle, shall we?” said Carth, deliberately avoiding her statement.
“Carth? Carth, answer me.”
“Hmm? What?”
“Damnit, flyboy, what the…” Eilis trailed off into a string of Mandalorian explicatives and Canderous’ dark chuckle echoed down the Hawk’s corridors in response. “Force, flyboy! I need my ankle later!”
Mission giggled again and grinned at Zaalbar, who rumbled out a laugh.
“What do you think, Big Z?” asked the blue Twi’lek, not noticing Bastila was lingering in the corridor leading from the cockpit.
“I think they are meant for each other,” replied the big Wookiee.
Mission laughed and nodded.
“Me too, Big Z. As much as they argue and hang around each other it’s gotta be true.”
“What must be true?” asked Juhani as she entered the room. A white patch covered the bruise on the Cathar’s forehead and she scratched lightly at the fur around it.
“Carth and Eilis!” chirped Mission, her lekku twining about her shoulders. “Don’t you think they’re meant for each other?”
Juhani blinked then smiled slightly, shaking her head.
“It is not my place to say such things,” she said. “I - I have no way to judge if it is so. And Eilis is a Jedi, Mission. We are not allowed…”
“To love, I know,” murmured the Twi’lek. She then looked up and shook her head, saying, “But they like each other! I know it! Y’mean that just because she’s a Jedi that they can’t do anything about it?”
Juhani just looked at her and Mission’s lekku drooped over her shoulders.
“Droyk,” spat the teenager, using one of the many curses Eilis tended to shout out at odd times.
The Cathar bit her lip and stared at the teenager for a long moment before murmuring, “Though there are some Jedi that have fallen in love.”
Mission brightened at that but Bastila frowned at Juhani over the teenager’s shoulders. The other Jedi bade goodbye to the pair and nodded towards her before heading towards the port dormitory, which had been claimed by the women.
Bastila watched in contemplative silence as Mission dug out her Pazaak deck when Eilis entered the room and challenged her to a game. The limping ex-smuggler chuckled and sank down across from her, even as Carth offered to go get her deck. He left the common room and Bastila felt a small trickle of emotion come through her bond with Eilis.
Eilis, she sent warningly. You know…
Relationships aren’t promoted as the “Thing To Do” amongst Jedi. Yeah, Bastila, I know.
Do not lead him on then.
Mild anger flashed through the bond and Bastila turned to walk towards the cockpit as Eilis spat, Stay out of my life! Her presence retreated then, sulking darkly in a corner of the brunette’s mind.
“I cannot,” whispered Bastila as she sank into the co-pilot’s chair, staring out at the stream of hyperspace. “I must keep you from falling again. No matter the cost…”
------
“What the droyk is this?”
“Beep bop brr.”
Eilis frowned and turned her head to glare at AT, who was bobbing beside her real shoulder, before she continued down the Ebon Hawk’s ramp. She absently tugged her belt to the right, shielding her two lightsabres from sight with her robe, which was the only part of her Jedi clothes that she still wore besides the belt. Bastila had scolded her when she’d changed back into her old clothes but she’d thrown the younger woman off with a simple comment about Jedi robes being too suspicious.
“Yes, I know they’re Czerka, AT. We’ve dealt with the Huttspawn before, remember?”
“Brr rop.”
“No, I’m not going to make another deal with them!” She snorted and punched him lightly, causing him to flash his photoreceptor angrily at her. “We got the wrong side of the bantha the last time we tried making a deal with these wamprats. You really think I’m gonna make that mistake again?”
AT hummed a negatory response and she nodded in agreement.
“Damn right I’m not. Hey, flyboy, you comin’?”
Carth blinked at her from the top of the Hawk’s ramp where Bastila had caught him on the way out of the ship. He then looked back at the other Jedi as she said something and his expression turned foul.
Eilis felt his anger easily and shot a glare at Bastila, having a good feeling of what she was telling him. The brunette just looked at her then disappeared into the ship, replaced by a very nervous looking Zaalbar who walked past Carth to join her.
She frowned at him and asked, “Are you alright?”
The Wookiee nodded in response then looked at the huge wroshyr trees around them for a long moment.
“It has been a long time since I have been home.”
Eilis smiled and patted his lower arm, instantly sympathizing with him. She hadn’t been home since she was sixteen and despite the fact that she hadn’t enjoyed living there it was still home.
“Yeah,” she said softly with a little wistful smile, “me too.”
Zaalbar looked down at her curiously then smiled.
Eilis then turned to look at Carth as he strode down the ramp, his stubble-lined jaw clenched and his dark eyes flashing angrily. She frowned and reached out towards him, shocked when he snapped his hand up to knock hers away. And also a little hurt.
“Carth…”
“Not now, Eilis,” he growled angrily, shaking his head.
She frowned at him then nodded slightly as she sensed his regret at pushing her away. His anger was at Bastila, not her. She could only guess that the other Jedi had given him the same type of talk about avoiding relationships as she’d been giving her since that sparring session with Juhani. And it seemed he’d taken it about as well as she had.
“Alright,” she said softly. Then she turned away and strode down the walkway away from the Hawk, Zaalbar following cautiously in her wake.
Carth stood for a long moment looking after them then asked aloud, “What the hell am I doing?” before jogging off after Eilis. Standing at the top of the ramp again, Bastila frowned at his back and wondered what else she could do to salvage this situation.
------
“Damnit, Zaalbar, I’m not leaving you here!”
“Yes, you will,” grumbled Zaalbar, frowning down at Eilis. “I will be fine.”
The ex-smuggler snarled in frustration, earning a few uneasy looking from the two Czerka employees’ that stood nearby to guard them as they spoke. She then ran her real fingers through her hair, taking a deep breath as she calmed herself.
There is no emotion, there is peace…
“Fine is not the word I would use with you trapped here with the scum you call a brother,” she said in a calmer tone. Her eyes, however, still flashed angrily.
Zaalbar frowned and grumbled, “He may have done horrible things to our people but he is still my brother.”
Eilis frowned and shook her head, saying, “I don’t like you staying here while we go do his dirty work but alright.” She then turned to fix a piercing glare on Chuundar, who was standing between two more of his Czerka guards.
“We agree to your terms,” she snapped in Shyriiwook. She then switched back to Basic as she slid her robe back, hands absently going to rest where her lightsabres would have been if she hadn’t been disarmed, “And Force help me, if you go back on your word, Chieftain, you being Zaalbar’s brother won’t keep me from doing something drastic.”
Chuundar gave her the same sort of expression one might give a bug that had just claimed it could kill you and growled, “Enough, human. Goorwooken will show you to the Shadowlands. Now leave my sight!”
Eilis sneered as she took a step back then spun on her heels, stalking out into the main part of the village of Rwookrrorro. Outside the door of the place where they’d been brought, Carth shoved himself away from the wall and asked, “How’d it go, beautiful?”
“He wants us to take care of a rouge Wookiee for him,” she replied as they headed for the entrance that would lead them back out onto the pathway between the trees. “I see you got your blasters back.”
“Yeah. Here,” he said as he gingerly handed her back her lightsabres. Their fingers touched briefly as she took them from him and he noticed that immediately after the contact her furrowed brow smoothed out.
She smiled and murmured a ‘thank you’ as she clipped the silver cylinders back onto her belt. Then she spoke to the Wookiee’s guarding the gate, who glowered at them but opened the door to let them out without delay. It closed behind them with a sharp sound and Carth looked back over his shoulder at it.
“Friendly bunch, aren’t they?”
“Not very trusting,” said Eilis. “Then again, I suspect we also wouldn’t be very trusting if our kind were being enslaved at every turn.” She sighed and ran a hand over her face, shaking her head. “I hate slaver’s. Hate them, hate them, hate them…”
Carth frowned at that and asked, “Didn’t you ever have to smuggle slaves?”
“NO!”
He blinked and drew back slightly, holding up his hands. “Sorry, beautiful,” he said sheepishly. “Didn’t mean to pry.”
Eilis shook her head, dark hair flying everywhere as it tried to free itself from the bun she’d twisted it into. “It’s not that,” she murmured, looking down at her feet. She then lifted her head and looked at him, saying, “My father smuggled them a few times - I hated it. Every time he took a job that included them I always tried to convince him to let them go but he just smiled at me and said the same thing.”
Carth looked at her, waiting patiently for her to continue.
“ ‘Don’t consider them people, Little El. If you don’t do that, you can’t hurt yourself.’ ” She shook her head and hissed, “But I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t just pretend that they were cargo. And every time someone came to me wanting to transport slaves, I told them where they could put their damn offer and kicked them the hell off my ship.”
They walked in silence for a few moments then Carth spoke as they moved back through the doors that lead into the Czerka base of operations.
“Y’know, for a smuggler…”
“Ex-smuggler.”
“…you’re a pretty good person,” finished Carth as though he hadn’t heard her.
Eilis shrugged and said, “Gotta earn a living but, droyk, I don’t have to give up all my morals to do it.”
The pilot just smiled then frowned as he saw Mission come running out of the Ebon Hawk to great them.
“Hey, you’re back!” She skidded to a halt then, blue lekku twisting nervously about her neck. “Wh-where’s Big Z?”
A mournful expression crossed Eilis’ face and she went to the teenager, wrapping an arm about her shoulders. Mission frowned then leaned into the embrace, shaking her head.
“What happened?”
“His brother is holding him in custody until we do something for him,” replied Eilis gently. “There was no other way he would have allowed us entrance to the Shadowlands.”
“But Big Z…!”
“We’ll get him back,” hissed the ex-smuggler, hugging the teenager. “I swear, Mish, we’re gonna get him back.”
“O-okay,” mumbled the Twi’lek. She then looked at Carth, who nodded sharply before moving past them to go into the freighter. Eilis followed him with her eyes then slowly led Mission inside, wondering if AT had been able to pass along word to Canderous that she wanted him to come along down to the Shadowlands.