Zira Darkstar

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A/N: Thank you to those that gave the reviews! ^-^ Still hoping to see more. This chapter is a little shorter then I'd intended but it kinda took on a life of it's own as I was writing it. Decided it would be better to stop where I did then make it a lot longer. I'm already starting on Chapter 10, so the update could be up anywhere from later today to sometime in the next 2-3 days.
~Beta'd by Envy~
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Chapter 9

She had taken Carth back to the apartment and left him in bed. She was sure that he was going to need some time to sleep off his binder.

From everything she heard, Tarisian drinks were supposed to be extremely potent and judging by how Carth was ailing from it now, he must have had quite a bit. By the time she’d finally wrenched his arm from her shoulders and laid him in bead, he was practically in tears.

She allowed a fond moment to reminisce. The feel of Carth’s arm around her had been strangely comforting. She remembered forcing him to let go and smiled gently to herself. Of course… he had only been clinging on so tightly cause he thought the room had hit turbulence, but still…

She’d considered trying to get him to talk about himself, but she didn’t think it felt right to take advantage of him. After all, she may have assailed her body in a dueling ring chasing credits, but he had purposely tortured himself in the name of finding a lead. Bastila must really be something.

Her mind wandered back to what she was doing, as an image in a full length mirror began to look back at her. She smiled a bit. The woman looking back was starting to seem more familiar now. She had decided to take advantage of some of the credits she’d earned to buy herself a dress that she felt complimented her body. The one she was trying on was composed of a deep blue fabric that hugged her form. It wrapped tightly around her midsection and chest, pressing her large, full breasts together and showing off her plentiful cleavage. Its sleeves were nothing more then two small rings that looped around her biceps and kept her pale shoulders completely visible. To finish off, the dress cropped short on her thighs, barely above the knees, and it had a small open slit on either side that ended just before her hips.

The saleswoman had been gushing nonstop since Zira had tried it on. She was blabbering about how the dark blue complimented her pale form and matched her eyes. She was right. Zira was almost annoyed that she had to agree with the woman. She’d been a bit pushy and demanding since the moment Zira had entered the clothing store. Oh well. Even loud mouth cantina-rats have to be right sometimes.

After purchasing the dress and a matching pair of heels, she decided that perhaps a few more credits could be spared. She went to a salon where she could get her hair and make-up done. Her stylist was a man from Onderon, who spoke with a bit of a lisp. He raved about how soft and beautiful her hair was. Zira could only smile and nod. I wonder if I used to do stuff to maintain the quality of my hair. Of course, this guy could probably say that about any hair.

She spent the next hour, or so, getting her make-up and hair done in a way that gave it life and bounce. The hair was now a full, curvy mane that framed her face and neck. The make-up she was wearing didn’t consist of much. She’d elected to avoid certain colors, wanting to maintain the pale beauty that the rest of her body seemed to emanate.

The trip out of the salon sent a shiver up her spine. She watched absently as several men seemed to stop and ogle her. A small sense of pride washed over her. The number of men looking was staggering. She could see married men, both in the salon foyer and outside on the street, practically shoving their wives aside to get a better look as she passed.

A confident smile parted her soft, pink lips as she walked towards the apartments where the party was to be held. The trip to the clothing store and salon had taken a little longer then she’d anticipated. She checked a clock that displayed the time and ended up having to quicken her pace.

By the time she’d gotten to the apartment, she no longer felt so happy about everyone looking at her. There had been several demeaning cat-calls and propositions that she was starting to understand why so many Tarisians were content to stick to stationary tunics.

She checked her datapad and followed the marking that Yun had punched in for her. When she reached the door she stopped for a moment to compose her self. She pushed up on her hair to make sure it was still in place and readjusted her breasts so that she no longer felt as though they might spill free from the dress.

She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. The thought of the strong, dark Sith played in her mind. Don’t get your hopes up Zira. He is a Sith, and he probably has another girl all over him by now. She cautioned.

She had just lifted a hand to knock on the door when it slid open on it’s own. Heavy toned music suddenly reverberating through her, a young couple stopped short. A man and woman were laced arm in arm still grinning and giggling from a moment before. They both smelled heavily of Tarisian ale, and they seemed to have been necking a moment prior, judging by the tangle of tossed hair and smeared make-up.

“E-Excuse me… is this the party that Yun Genda told me about?”

The young man grinned, “Yeah, hang on.” He looked over his shoulder into the room, his weight falling heavily on the woman under his arm. They seemed to be holding each other up, in a way that Zira would suspect two toppling objects that fell against each other would do.

“Yo, Yun!” He shouted over the heavy bass lines of the music. “You’ve got a guest! Some hot chick showed up!”

Zira could feel color rush to her cheeks. Some “hot chick” indeed.

The tall man she recognized to be Yun pushed his way out of the crowd and over to the door. He was alone. His sun-darkened face parted in a wide, toothy smile that seemed to be summoning yet more color into her cheeks. She could see his dark eyes tracing the lines of her body.

“Hey, you made it! I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show! The party’s in full swing. Come on in.” He held out his elbow for her to take and lead her into the room. The apartment was crowded with people. Dancers seemed to be all but having sex on the dance floor, and Zira’s eyes lingered on them for a moment. The way the writhed against one another sent a shiver up her spine.

She felt almost stirred, deep down, by watching them. Something seemed to yearn and ache inside her body. She knew it to be calling out for the same attention she saw another woman getting on the dance floor. Her partner had laces his fingers through hers and was pressed tightly up against her from behind as their hips swayed to the music.

“You have to try this Tarisian ale, it’s fantastic!” Yun said to her, lifting up a large mug of it from the dispenser. “We should’ve conquered this planet ages ago.” He said, bumping a dark skinned young woman near them with his free elbow.

The woman looked up at him apprehensively, “Careful Yun. That wine’s got quite the kick. A couple more bottles and we’ll all be passed out on the floor!”

Zira got the impression the woman was a bit uncomfortable in the room. Taking in her stance and manner, the woman was probably an over achiever. Before Zira could start to wonder just what being an “over-achiever” for the Sith would entail, Yun entered her thoughts with a loud laugh.

“Who cares? We’re not on duty tomorrow, let’s live a little!” He seemed to be encouraging the woman.

She still seemed reluctant to listen. Yun grabbed another large glass and shoved it into the woman’s hands. He pulled Zira around until she was beside the dark skinned, Sith. “Come on! Drink up.” He said to the both of them. Several others around them began to call out encouragingly.

Under the scrutiny of their calls, Zira felt obligated to comply. She didn’t want to stand out too much more than she already was. She pushed glass to her lips and threw it back. The pungent brew burned it’s way down her throat.

A chant started up of “Drink! Drink! Drink!”

Zira glimpsed, out of the corner of her eye, that the woman beside her had also chosen that moment to delve into her drink, and Zira, feeling competitive, began to gulp down the fiery liquid. The chant gained in volume as the two women forced mouthful, after mouthful down.

Zira watched as the last bit of ale flowed into her lips and gulped it down harshly. She pulled the glass over her head and held it up triumphantly. A second later the other woman lifted her glass as well. An uproarious cheer erupted from the crowd as Zira tried to wipe away some ale from the corners of her mouth.

Her eyes fell upon Yun, who was part of the loud cheer and now clapping his great hands. “She’s no Sith, but she sure drinks like one!” He called to several of the guys nearby.

Zira felt color in her cheeks again, this time both from embarrassment and the alcohol hitting her system. Yun handed her another glass which she took in one hand and his offered elbow in the other. He lead her across the room to a slightly open corner with a couple chairs.

She sat her drink down on the table between them, then smoothed her dress as she sat down, knees together.

“So, what do you do?” Yun asked her in a gentle voice.

She offered a shy smile and shook her head. She wasn’t sure how to answer that. Oh the last thing I remember doing that seemed much like a career was killing Sith troopers on board the dying Cruiser the other day. The thought flowed it’s way easily into her mind. For some reason I don’t think he’d like that career very much. “Oh, I just work in a shop here in town.”

“Oh? Sell anything interesting.”

“Oh yes. I supply heavy weaponry to renegade Republic members.” She blurted it out before even thinking it through.

Yun stared at her for a moment before breaking into a laugh. “You’re funny. I like that.” He leaned in, his eyes twinkling with delight as he rested his strong hand on her knee.

Zira bit down on her bottom lip a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “How about you? What exactly does a Sith junior officer do at the base?”

“Oh, mostly boring stuff. The woman you out drank a little bit ago is my partner, Sarna. We mostly are in charge of directing traffic these days, but before we had taken over this planet, we were both on board the ship, The Leviathan.”

“Sounds fascinating.”

“Not nearly as much as looking into your eyes.”

Zira felt herself turn a brilliant shade of red. She could tell by his knowing eyes that his words had hit the mark. “Well, I’m sure there’s other things you’d rather be doing.” She offered, trying to downplay herself a bit in his eyes.

“Oh yeah, there’s a few things that come to mind.”

She could tell by the longing look in his eyes exactly what mynock nest she’d just stirred up. “Oh?”

“Yeah… Let’s dance!” He suddenly stood up, hauling her with him by the hand.

Zira was a bit taken back. She had expected him to offer to take her somewhere private. It would have made it easier to distrust him if she thought all he was doing was trying to get into her pants. Or, skirt rather.

The music held a steady pounding beat that as she got onto the dance floor she felt tugging at her hips. She could feel the music flowing through her; creating the desire to dance.

Yun was an excellent dancer. They flowed around each other like water around a stone. The way his large muscled hands felt as they gripped hers sent shivers down her spine. He was effortlessly lifting her about and pulling her through complicated spins and twists. Zira was so encompassed by the passionate samba that they were doing that she hadn’t even had time to wonder how she knew how to do these things.

The song trailed away to an ending, and Yun had just sent her into a dip that was so low she could feel her hair brushing the floor below. Her arms were outstretched over head and Yun was holding her up with one hand, almost effortlessly, resting across the small of her back.

He pulled her up quickly and she felt the rush of blood, slowed by the drinks, throughout her. Feeling a bit faint, she fell against him. His arms had been waiting. He rested his arms around her lazily and she felt herself holding onto him. The sound of clapping and cheers had once again filtered through her mind and she looked about.

They had taken up almost the entire dance floor and had an audience now. She turned an instinctively buried her face into Yun’s shirt. “You’re the first person to keep up with me on the dance floor.”

She felt his words more then heard them.

“C’mon, let’s sit down a minute. That one drained me a bit.”

She nodded and went back across the room with him. He offered her a drink, which she accepted and took a long draw from. That was dumb. You’re exercising and getting dehydrated, so lets just force feed more poison into our body. Brilliant. She shrugged off the random third person thought and realized that someone was now sitting in the large chair she’d used the first time around.

Yun sat into his chair and gently pulled on her hand. It was more then enough to pull her onto his lap. She drew her knees up into the chair as he wrapped his arm around her back. She was now sitting across him, her eyes locked on his. “You really are an excellent dancer.” She finally managed to say through the knot that had formed in her throat.

“So are you. Where’d you learn to dance like that?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“Yeah, but I’d simply say it was part of my super secret agent Sith training.”

“And I’d know you were lying.” She retorted quickly.

“Oh? And how would you know that?”

“Simple. I watched the others on the dance floor and they suck! Besides, your partner doesn’t strike me as the ‘super secret agent Sith’ type.” A playful smile found her.

“True, true. Maybe you should be some kind of investigator. Hate to say it, but you just proved to be more observant that any ten people in this room.”

She chuckled softly. “Oh yes, I shall start my own detective agency. It will seek out all the bad dancers in the universe and bring their crimes of flat feet to justice!”

They shared a moments laughter before he gently rested one of his hands on her bare knees. “My mom.”

“Excuse me?”

“My mother was a dancer back home on Quelii. She spent most of my childhood teaching me things like dancing.”

Zira felt a small warming sensation, deep inside her. That’s right… Sith are people too. Of course they have mothers, fathers, siblings… Her thoughts played back to the Endar Spire. How many of them had families? How many of them that I killed will never again embrace loved ones that are waiting for them?

She felt a small sense of nausea at the thought. She had been so quick to fight, to kill. She didn’t even know them. Maybe I’m on the wrong side…. So far the only “Republic” I have to compare them to is Carth, and he treats me like a little kid!

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He asked in a voice loaded with concern.

“Nothing… just remembering some unpleasant stuff.”

“Care to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

He looked pensive for a moment before a kind smile broke the expression. “Hey. I have an idea. You should come with me; I know something that’ll cheer you up.”

She nodded absently. The call for something cheerful burned in her. She wanted to forget the people she’d killed. The people’s lives that she’d ended.

Yun stood up, lifting her up into a cradle as he did so, before setting her gently on her feet. “I’ll meet you by the door.”

She gave an affirming nod and moved across the now overcrowded room. Even more people had filled in and she had to squeeze between several people.

“Oy! Make way for the lady you fucking pricks!” A female voice called from beside her, prompting several people to jump and move aside.

She turned to see the Sarna standing behind her, holding a drink. “Thank you.” She offered sheepishly.

“Oh no problem, honey. With these guys you gotta just show’em who’s boss!” Apparently the contest had inspired her to take Yun’s advice. She looked smashed.

“Where ya goin anyway, babe?”

“Oh… Yun asked me to meet him by the door.”

“Oh my god, if he offers to take you back to his apartment do it!”

“W-What!?” She fumbled.

“That man is built! We used to date y’know. I broke it off cause he wanted a commitment and I was just interested in a good fucking every now and again.”

“Oh. That’s…. nice?” For the first time, Zira had no idea what to say.

“Take you for instance.”

“What about me?”

“If Yun hadn’t laid claim on ya, I’d be all over that.” She said with a soft pat on Zira’s bottom.

“You wha…?”

“Oh come on, never been with a woman before?”

Zira shook her head. As far as she knew, it was true.

“Seriously!? Wow…”

“I’ve never really thought about it I gue-”

Sarna grabbed her by the back of the neck and pulled her forward. Her large lips pressed against Zira’s. Zira froze, stunned. The woman’s expert tongue traced the line of Zira’s lips as if begging for entry.

She wasn’t sure if it was the ale, the depression, or the excitement, but Zira found herself pressing herself up against the woman. Her tongue now mingling with hers. She was aware of Sarna’s hands trailing down her body, gripping her ass tightly and pulling her close.

A large hand fell upon her shoulder and wrenched the two women apart. “Sarna!”

The woman looked a bit sheepish now. “Sorry Yun… she just looked so delicious… Besides, it was just a taste.”
“Yeah well I’d prefer you didn’t. She doesn’t strike me as that type of woman.”

Zira bit her lip, her face burning again. You loser… how much can one person possibly blush!? Besides, if you aren’t that type of woman, why are you so turned on right now? Zira’s thoughts admonished her.
Yun now had a large backpack precariously looped over one shoulder.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry Yun.” Sarna looked around Yun and at Zira. “I’m sorry.” She repeated to Zira.

She wanted to tell her “don’t worry about it” or “I enjoyed it” but she couldn’t seem to convince her lips to form the words. Her once light tongue that had moments ago been floating about another’s, felt like durasteel in her mouth, too heavy to lift.

Yun led her by the elbow out of the apartment, the sound of the door swooshing closed and cutting off the music. It felt so quiet now. This silence is deafening…

“Sorry about Sarna… she an be a little forward when she’s been drinking.”

“So I noticed.” She croaked.

His smile was tender upon her, as his eyes fell in line with her own. “C’mon, I promised to cheer you up.”

“And how do you plan to do that?”

“With this.” He said with a nod over his shoulder, indicating the bag.

“What’s in it.”

“Oh, you’ll see.”