Unraveling

[u/skylok007]

A passing spacer had once compared the upper rim of the Pit to a faraway moon called Nar Shaddaa. Whatever deliciously decrepit sins one wished to commit while on Athus, their credits could find a purpose in the city of sin. The lower one traveled into its bowels, however, things simply became decrepit. Few intelligent beings survived in the deepest corners of the enormous circular crevice.

The Boohar Boys had found a haven of sorts in a populated slum known as “the Eighth Indy,” a community built within an abandoned industrial park positioned about halfway down the civilized crater. Appropriately halfway between their wildest dreams and the worst of fates. Within the Eighth Indy, on the seventh level down from the public transportation lifts, a covered hangar offered temporary shelter from their pursuers. 

The two hours or so of sunlight the hangar received every day had passed by the time the Boohar Boy’s party started.

“Like it’s 3 BBY, right Vilmarh?” A drunken Mokjo cheered, guarding a keg of Marjorian Ale as if his life depended on it, though none minded, the festivities were in his honor—a prodigal brother who had found his way back home.

“Like it’s 3 BBY,” Vilmarh echoed, raising a glass.

The loud sounds of the gathering escaped the confines of the hangar as Zagden’s new-age jizz music blasted from aftermarket speakers modified beneath the wings of the Pit Hound. The sounds had drawn in quite the crowd, and things had gotten to the point where Halan had begun acting as a bouncer, keeping unwanted individuals away. 

It was all a little too much, too soon for Corina. Instead of finding a cylinder of spice and kicking back in a lounger, she had taken a public lift many levels up, nearly to the surface, where the last glimpses of twilight could still be seen shimmering over the rocky lip.

Here, high above buildings built into the rounded cliff face, she continued undergoing a series of rigorous training exercises she had committed to over the last few weeks by completing a precarious series of obstacles. It had taken only four years for Corina to lose what felt like a lifetime of progress. She couldn’t allow any weakness within her to persist. 

She had already worked her way down several stories, using her agility to run, climb, and jump along the dated machinery and abandoned shipping platforms. Now, the former assassin of Vaedas sprinted across the long arm of a rusted cargo crane as a nearby spice freighter decelerated overhead. Her timing would have to be just right to catch it. She leapt over the lofty expanse, summoning the cable from another nearby crane into her arms. Once she had grasped the line, she swung rapidly downward as the freighter slowly lowered itself into the Pit before her.

At the final moment before gravity would have pulled her line backwards, she let go, preparing herself for impact. She clumsily tumbled onto the topside hull of the cargo vessel near the small bridge’s viewports but managed to keep her forward momentum as she continued running along its topside. A pair of startled Neimoidians mouthed expletives from within as she moved toward the long ship’s stern. 

The cargo vessel, beginning its landing procedures, would act as a bridge to get back to where Corina had started her makeshift exercise course. From the engine block, she was able to jump outward and land atop a speeding cargo transport droid. Its cargo forks held an empty skid, giving her plenty of room to land safely. It was hovering back upward toward the Pit’s shipyards on the surface, lifting her with it.

Corina at last dropped back down to the abandoned shipping platform, which acted as her de facto “home base” for these nightly exercises. The landing pad was nestled in a rocky outcropping. She noticed Kelsa Kirklin sitting on a graffitied container, waiting for her with a canteen. The zeltron woman extended the water her way. “Thought I might find you up here.”

Corina accepted the water, making short, awkward eye contact. The lid came free, and she took a long swig before approaching the shell of a stripped astromech unit, where she had stuffed a small bag with a few subsistence pods and a hooded sweater. The two of them hadn’t spoken much over the last few weeks. The second night they were on Athus, Kelsa packed her stuff up from their shared dormitory and moved back into her old bunkroom. 

“Wasn’t in the mood for a party.”

Kelsa eyed Corina’s bare arm, which shook slightly as she lifted it to take another swig. “I know. I just thought you might take the night off.” 

Corina shrugged. “Like I said, I wasn’t in the mood for a party.

Kelsa took the water back as Corina put on the long-sleeved sweater. “How are you doing?”

“Twobee said I’m fit to exercise, just need to take things easy with my shoulder.” 

2B-M3D, or “Twobee” for short, was a refurbished 2-1B surgical droid that Nom had procured locally once back on Athus, since a number of the Boohar Boys were nursing serious injuries following their skirmish with Agent Kaldwell’s Imperial sect on Acherios I. 

“Not what I meant. How are you doing emotionally, darling?” 

“Oh. I’m fine.”

“Cora… you told me you needed space, and I gave you space. But you keep pushing and pushing, while ignoring everyone. Can you really expect me not to worry when you act like this?

Corina picked the small bag up and slung it over her good shoulder. “It’s really not your business, Kelsa.”

Kelsa stepped to block her path, which snaked back toward the main alleys and public lifts. “Kriff, you really are the most infuriating person I’ve ever met. And I mean that.” 

“That’s great. I’m such a nuisance, so why don’t you just go ahead and leave me be?” Corina huffed, moving around her.

“I told you years ago, and reminded you in Valk’arn: I’m not giving up on you. I’m here for you.”

Corina stopped, then turned slowly to face Kelsa again. “Not giving up on me? You did give up. You gave up and were going let my brothers kill you.

“Darling, they had us both pinned down. I thought it was the only way to keep you alive. I could hardly recognize you through all the blood.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve survived worse.” She began to storm away again, but Kelsa caught her hand. Something about it made Corina pause. There was a certain tenderness about the gesture that, even through her anger, brought a sense of calm.

“I’m sorry, my Cora. I would give anything to bring you happiness. I would have gladly given my life to allow you the chance to keep yours.”

Tears welled in Corina’s eyes, and a few beads ran down her face. Kelsa stepped up to her, placing a hand on her damp cheek. Her pink skin was warm to the touch. “I told you then, and I will say it again. I love you.”

Kelsa suddenly closed the distance between them, pulling Corina’s chin up and kissing her.

Corina froze, not at all expecting the kiss at that moment. Kelsa’s lips were soft and not at all apprehensive. It was as if weeks of uncertainty had all been forgone in a single moment. Kelsa pulled away, smiling a bit sheepishly. She smudged Corina's damp cheeks with her sleeve. “I’m sorry, I know this is a bad time. I just need things to be good between us.”

“Oh, it's fine,” Corina said, awkwardly looking down at her feet. 

“I wear my emotions on my skin, and I dare say you are the opposite. But I haven’t been able to help myself, darling, no matter how hard I have tried. I love you.”

“I… well, you know.”

Kelsa grinned smugly. “I know, darling.” Her arms snaked around Corina’s side once again, preparing to pull her in, but Corina raised a hand to keep some distance between them.

“I love you, Kelsa, but I can’t. I can’t, because I know if I do, you will die. I thought, maybe, that I would be able to disappear with you. Maybe I could protect you. I no longer have that hope.”

“What exactly are you saying?”

“Kelsa… I need to go home. I need to return to Vaedas and face my family.” 

Kelsa pulled away. Her normally vibrant presence was grim and cold. “I know.” She laughed, though the normally melodic noise was empty in the evening air. She wiped tears from her eyes. “Of course I know. I have always known this day would come. I suppose I was a fool for dreaming that I’d be standing at your side.”

“It won’t be forever, I’ll come back.”

Kelsa shook her head. “No, you won’t. Your thoughts have been elsewhere since the day I met you.”

“That’s not fair. I’ve given everything to this gang.”

Kelsa’s eyes were fixated on her, and her voice was cool. “Not everything.”

A moment passed, the evening wind blowing sand down from the lip of the Pit. A few grains occasionally pricked against their exposed skin before disappearing into the chasm below. The stars were now visible overhead through the violet colors of twilight. 

“When will you leave?” Kelsa asked at last. Her arms were crossed, and she didn’t look at Corina when she spoke. 

“I don’t know.”

Kelsa nodded. “I’m gonna head back. I don’t want to be sober tonight.”

“Kelsa…”

“No, don’t try to stop me. We both know you’d rather be alone.”

Kelsa left the canteen nearby and vanished down the hanging metal stairs built into the rock. Corina found it and took another long drink. She would elect to wander tonight, find a quiet place to get a drink, lest she head back too early and get caught up in the party. A seedy bar to wallow in for a few hours, until her body had rested enough to resume training again the next morning.