| It Takes One to Know One By Jemmiah |
| ENTRY FIFTY ONE: You know, I could really get to like that Jay Abran fellow. I must thank him for all the jokes and stuff he's given me because this afternoon I tried them out on Sal-Fina and her stupid half-wit padawan…. Sal-Fina had attempted to be as nice as pie to Jemmiah on her return, but the Corellian wasn't having that at all. Oh, she'd be outwardly nice to her…no, not nice exactly. Civil? Pleasant? Whatever, inwardly Jemmiah was seething and plotting a very nasty revenge. Thanks to Jay, that retribution was almost at hand! And it was all so simple too! Whilst Sal-Fina smiled artificially at her and Ambianca hesitantly made a stumbling attempt at conversation Jemmiah's mind turned over the events of the day. The only good thing about it had been the distraction from missing Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon…at least to start with. Jemmiah didn't believe herself to be a born troublemaker, or somebody who went out of her way to antagonize a person in order to achieve her own ends, but if that individual overstepped the mark then she was quite prepared to pay them back tenfold at their own game. She could be charitable and turn the other cheek just as her mother had taught her, but there remained firmly within Jemmiah a deep-seated sense of injustice that would every now and again boil up, with very nasty consequences. Maybe this aspect of her personality had changed slightly…possibly it had lessened on meeting Qui-Gon…but it was still there. Unfairness galled her. She didn't complain about the fact that Sophie Digwurt came from a rich background. The rich couldn't help having money, could they? Aristocrats couldn't choose which family to be born into! But what she detested most was the attitude of those who looked down their noses at those who aspired to join their ranks and raise themselves up from the gutters and slums of Coruscant's lower levels. Know her place? Damn right Jemmiah knew it - and it was better than the likes of Sophie and her dark, twisted heart! She remained uncertain over whether she should include Ambianca in her scheme: but what the heck! The more Jemmy thought it over, the more she became convinced that all the giggling done prior to their abandoning her in the cupboard for the evening had been over her predicament! And had Ambianca ever had a good word to say to her in all the time she'd known her? No, not until now…not until she realized that Jemmy could drop her right in it! One word to Master Jinn and she was in BIG trouble… I hate two-faced people, Jemmiah thought grimly as she picked at a scab on her arm, formed in a recent fight with Sophie Digwurt. Well…it hadn’t been a fight as such. Sophie had just kicked her. Qui-Gon was going to be disappointed in her no matter what she did, and that thought made her heart sink once again. As a jedi he couldn't possibly back her little prank against Sal-Fina. If he were here then she would be subjected to the biggest, sharpest, toe-curling lecture in the whole galaxy! If he were standing there before her the admonishments would come thick and fast, saying she was irresponsible…confirming her immaturity in everyone's eyes… that she was unthinking…reckless…vicious… If he were there, the problem of Sal-Fina wouldn't have happened in the first place! Anger swelled within Jemmiah as she thought of the casual way in which she had been abandoned: left to fall into Sal-Fina's clutches. Don't get angry with Qui-Gon: he can't help it. He has to go away: he's a jedi! You're lucky to have him. Jemmy reminded herself. But it's a good thing I am a nice person…kind of. I so want to tell him what Sal-Fina's done! I want to scream it at him…I want to yell at him to do something about it, not just accept it as the will of the force! Just coz he can't get angry doesn't mean that I can't…I really want to see her get slapped into the middle of next week for what she did to me! It was so tempting. It was just such an attractive idea to cause the woman the most amount of trouble that she could. Kest, didn't she deserve it? At the very least Jemmy wanted Qui-Gon to find some way of locking Sal-Fina up in the selfsame cupboard for half a day just to let her know exactly what it was like! But…she couldn't do it. Jemmy was used to fighting her own battles, not running to her guardian every time something went wrong, even something big like this. And he would know that she was seeking revenge: he would see it in her heart and read it displayed within her furious eyes…and feel more disappointed with her reaction than with Sal-Fina's initial misdemeanor. She'd seen it time and time again since she'd moved in with him. Sure, she liked to play up to him…try to manipulate his feelings a little. Maybe sometimes she'd try and look as if she were about to cry even although she knew - and so did he - that she couldn't. Sometimes she'd pretend to feel slightly off color just to reassure herself that he would still fuss and fret over her. It was shameful to admit these things to herself but she constantly felt the need to know that both he and Obi-Wan cared about her: possibly because she still couldn't believe that there were people who actually did. So yes: she'd twist the pair of them round her little finger if she could, especially Qui-Gon. But somehow…somehow when Quiggy DID discipline her with his disapproving words there was no need for pretence. It was the most crushing feeling in the universe. Did she want to risk that by vengefully cataloging Sal-Fina's crimes and delighting in watching the old witch get roasted over got coals? But if I say nothing then Sal-Fina will win…and I might as well just go back to being a nobody…someone to be walked over by the likes of her and Sophie! Sighed Jemmiah, kicking her feet against the side of the sofa with frustration. Yet how can I tell Quiggy? He'll probably think I made the whole thing up anyway. Her eyes followed Sal-Fina for a moment, hawkishly taking in the rather uncomfortable expression on the jedi master's face. Ever since the woman had started pretending concern for her - asking how she was feeling or how her homework assignment was coming along - Jemmiah's skin had begun to crawl with the insincerity of it all. She almost preferred the horrible Sal-Fina better than the cool, reluctantly compliant one that sought to save her own worthless hide through simpering and being nice: at least being horrid was honest! And so, on reciprocating the cordiality (which she knew would be evaporating in the near future) Jemmy had made the woman a cup of stim tea, just to show that "there were no real hard feelings." Of course, as a natural Sabaac player who was an expert at keeping a neutral face, Jemmiah had her fingers well and truly crossed behind her back. Hard feelings? Permacrete would seem fluffy in comparison to the grudge the Corellian bore Sal-Fina! The tea had gone down well - literally. A pity, because Jemmiah had wanted to savor every sip Sal-Fina took, knowing what precisely was going to befall her. Half an hour later and it seemed as if, possibly, the desired effects were starting to manifest themselves in an increasingly uncomfortable and twitchy looking jedi. Part one was taken care of: now for part two. Slowly, so carefully and with such exaggeration of movement that it was bound to attract attention, Jemmiah took out a small bag from her pocket. Her timing couldn't have been more coincidental if she tried, being as how the pale complexioned Ambianca was just sitting down to drink the cup of cocoa she'd recently made. This, Jemmy grinned inwardly, was going to be soooooo funny! Opening her mouth extra wide for dramatic effect Jemmiah scooped up a large handful of the bags' contents and, hand hovering for a moment in mid-air, seemed about to drop the substance onto her tongue. Her eye caught that of a frowning Ambianca sitting on a stool by the kitchen table, watching her every move, and Jemmy contrived to keep the hand - and her mouth - paused as if frozen…caught out by Ambianca's supposed cleverness. Not one item - for it was very important that this was so - actually fell from Jemmy's hand, for she did not want to suffer the same fate as the apprentice! "What's that you've got?" Ambianca commanded, trying to sound regal whilst merely succeeding in getting up Jemmiah's nose. "Sprinkles." Jemmiah let the handful fall back into the package. "Like the ones you put on your cocoa…but I tend to just eat 'em." The curious look in Ambianca's eyes told Jemmiah it was just about time to play her trump card. Sighing dramatically as if facing an inevitability of fate, Jemmy rolled her eyes, hopped off the couch and held out the bag. "I suppose you'd like some then." "If it won't kill you." Ambianca said, perhaps a touch more cuttingly than she'd intended. "Thanks." Jemmy's mouth twitched. Any trace of clemency for Ambianca had long since disappeared. "Help yourself then." Jemmy shoved the bag in Ambianca's direction. "I don't want them any more." "I'm sure I'm grateful." Came back Ambianca's stiff sounding reply, sounding anything but as she helped herself to an extravagant helping of the chocolate coated confectionery. "You won't be." Muttered Jemmy under her breath, all but rubbing her hands at the huge shovelful Ambianca was loading onto her afternoon cocoa. The tiny cylindrical flakes settled on top of a mound of creamy foam before melting from the heat of the chocolate drink below and Jemmy experienced considerable satisfaction on watching the padawan slowly start to tip the mixture down her throat. Greed was its own reward: she'd learned that one from the time she'd overindulged on the bottles of Florizan wine left in Qui-Gon's apartment! Sophie had similarly been educated to know that rock cakes might not be as straightforward as they seemed at first sight. And Ambianca, well… Jemmiah pulled her diary towards her and began to type in earnest. Qui-Gon would feel so disappointed, but this time Jemmiah hoped it might be viewed as justifiable retribution. Who else would help her? In the end there was nobody to look out for her but herself. That was the way it always had been. 'I can foresee a good many emergency trips to the fresher in store for our fave master.' Jemmiah wrote, tapping in the words on her keypad, 'And I hope she's fond of the color green because otherwise she's in for a bit of a shock! See, Abran gave me these tablet things to drop into her stim tea. She didn't look too great first thing (not that she ever does in my opinion), no doubt because of the carousing and…other things she got up to yesterday. Candyfloss brains looked a little better, so she'd better make the most of it. One of the other things that Jay gave me was a packet of dried sprinkles, the kind that you like to put on your cocoa. Only thing is that these ones look perfectly normal but the effect they have… I hope she likes worms.' She sat back, feeling a mixture of guilt and satisfaction at a job well done. All she had to do now was wait… A couple of hours later and Jemmiah was beginning to see the fruits of her dastardly endeavors. Ambianca wouldn't be affected at first…the stuff had to slowly make its winding way through her entire digestive system before she'd get any payback from that particular little venture, but Sal-Fina was another matter entirely. The woman had spent an uncomfortable amount of time running back and forward to the fresher room, infact she'd headed there with such frequency that Jemmiah began to wonder if she'd perhaps put too many tablets into Sal's tea. Okay, Jay had said to use two or three whilst Jemmy had used six…or was it seven? But did it really matter? She just wanted to make sure she got results. It was all falling into place like she had predicted! Parts one and two of her plan were completed. Operation revenge was well and truly underway. Now there remained one final thing she had to do, more for her own benefit than to cause the gruesome twosome any extra discomfort (but if it killed two Mynocks with one blaster then who was she to complain?) All the time Jemmy had been locked in the cupboard she had sat there, trembling, and wishing she could get back into the familiar, empty rooms in Quiggy's place: even if only for one night! And by the force, did she have an idea that might just do the trick! Idly, Jemmiah scratched at her scalp, watching Sal-Fina exit the fresher room looking highly worried indeed. Good, thought Jemmiah, much gratified. Look at her face! Now THAT'S what I call funny…none of this locking people in confined spaces business! Let's see how she likes it now that the shoe's on the other cloven hoof! Ambianca was the first to say something, which surprised Jemmiah because even taking into account the girl's force sensitivity Ambianca was about the least observant person the Corellian had ever met in her life! Possibly what had alerted her something was wrong was that master-padawan bond thing that Jemmiah had observed working between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. It must be such a wonderful thing to have, she thought wistfully, marveling on the strength and comfort that such a bond must bring to both people. It seemed that although the pairing of Jinn and Kenobi consisted of two totally independent people with their own unique thoughts, personalities and style of achieving things, the force brought the two of them together in a way that Jemmiah knew she would never experience. She'd seen the pair of them fight together in training, and had looked on in wonderment at the way they were so attuned, one to the other. Even Ambianca and Sal-Fina had that sense of belonging. Must be nice, Jemmiah sighed, wishing she could have shared some similar kind of bond, even if only briefly - just to see what it might be like. Then again, allowing someone to get that close and share her innermost thoughts didn't exactly appeal to her either…perhaps it was just as well she wasn't a jedi, for she doubted her shielding would be perfect enough to keep any probing thoughts at bay. "Master," Ambianca's concerned croak interrupted Jemmy's thoughts of her nearest and dearest, "are you okay? You seem a little…" she struggled to find the suitable words, "out of sorts?" Sal-Fina sat down with her arms wrapped tightly around her middle, hugging herself as if desperately trying to control her own body. "No, everything is not alright." She replied, her voice tight with concern. "I think I've maybe picked up some kind of a chill. Maybe it was when we were out last evening." "Or something you ate or drank?" Jemmy piped up, aware that both sets of frosty eyes were now trained firmly upon her. Well, the truce hadn't lasted too long by the look of things! Hardly surprising given the way that Sal-Fina was now focused once more upon the person she cared most about in the galaxy - herself. Concerned at the dramatic and peculiar way her body was acting, it didn't appear that she was prepared to do too much listening to any crackpot idea: especially not from the likes of Jemmiah! "You were out at a restaurant." Jemmiah continued. "Weren't you? Somewhere you'd never been before?" "Oh, don't be ridiculous." Sal-Fina's voice was laced with worry, but there was more than enough of the familiar scorn in her words. "I know the manager…that place has newly opened and is no doubt scrupulously clean!" Jemmy shrugged. "Just trying to help. I mean, you hear about it all the time, don't you? New restaurant opening…exotic foods to attract a discerning clientele…posh wines…" She paused, pretending to gather her thoughts. "Just coz it looks clean on the outside doesn't mean it is clean. Probably rat infested, you know? Vrelts chewing on the storage bins…doing what vrelts do and leaving what vrelts leave behind all over the place." Ambianca shuddered. "Then of course you've got the kitchen staff. I mean, I'll bet however many times you tell 'em to wash their hands they never do. And you can imagine the sort of things that they get up to, can't you?" Jemmiah was warming to her task of painting as horrific a picture as she possibly could and really beginning to enjoy herself. As someone who'd worked in the kitchens of Nargotria for five years she had good reason to know precisely what went on in the kitchens, especially if the customers were horrible! She never liked the idea of eating out for just that reason, for if she had been capable of such action at the tender age of ten, imagine the vengeful ideas of those with extra years under their belts! "I don't know what you could possibly mean." Sal-Fina's voice had finally lost that edge, the dripping sarcasm disappearing in a bout of self-concern. "The food tasted fine! Didn't it, padawan?" The apprentice nodded, more because she wanted to believe what Sal-Fina was saying than anything else. She disliked the idea of her seemingly unstoppable master being laid down with some strange malady, besides which believing what the Corellian was saying laid herself wide open to exactly the same ailment that Sal-Fina was currently afflicted with! Hadn't they both eaten the exact same food, at the exact same table…served by the exact same hands? But had they been clean hands? The padawan swallowed. At the temple personal hygiene was taken for granted, but elsewhere in the capital who could guess at the grubby lifestyles that went on under everyone's noses? "That doesn't mean anything." Jemmy started to scratch at her head again, this time a little more violently than before. "Okay, so the food might look appetizing, but do you honestly know what's mixed in there? I know of people who have spat in the soup if they didn't like you!" Sal-Fina suddenly began to look more and more unwell. "And that's to say nothing of the other things that end up in there. Insects…spiders…why, I heard tell of a guy who actually got served somebody's deep fried, severed finger instead of a spicy nerf sausage, wrapped up in a hotdog!" Jemmy shook her head, whilst still itching at her scalp. "And as for drink…all sorts of foreign bodies find their way in there, and I do use the word 'bodies' on purpose. All it takes is for someone not to like the amount you've tipped them and then next thing you know they've gone and urinated in your chilled red 'Corusca '82'.You can't trust anyone these days! Even the people closest to you!" She finished, happy with her pronouncement. "What's wrong with you anyway, if you don't mind me asking?" "I do mind you asking!" Sal-Fina countered, feeling most ill indeed. "Like I say, it's…it's probably a chill. Yes, that's it - a chill! Everyone has those at some stage in their life." "Chills can be fatal." Jemmy leaned back heavily against the couch, delighted at the panicky expression on Ambianca's face. Some jedi she was if she got worried over a chill…kest, Jemmy had suffered her share of them since arriving in Coruscant with her weak immune system. Still, if it made the pair of them think for a change then why should she not enjoy the angst? "Fatal?" Ambianca's eyes rounded in alarm. "Course." Jemmiah used her other hand to scratch at the back of her head this time. "Chills can be nasty. I should know: I've suffered with them on and off since I got here. But I shouldn't worry," this time she couldn’t keep the smile from off her face, "they're usually not too bad unless you get some sort of dramatic change…like it turns your water a funny color or something." This time Sal-Fina's face turned rigid with shock. "I mean, that indicates an infection of some kind, doesn't it." Jemmiah chattered on relentlessly, trying to sound as casual as possible. "Back in the days before Master Jinn found me, I knew someone who got a really bad infection like that. They ignored it." "What happened to them?" Ambianca asked, greatly concerned. "Oh, they died." Jemmy used both hands to scratch her hair. "Died?!?" Sal-Fina gasped. "I don't believe it." "All the same, I'd get to the infirmary and check it out, because if something is wrong with you then you don't want to just let it continue, do you? I mean, I'm sure that would be very unpleasant." "Er…yes." Sal-Fina pulled her robe about her, suddenly imagining a thousand and one symptoms she'd shown no signs of previously. "Yes, maybe I'll…er, do that." "Let's hope whatever it is," Jemmiah leaned forward conspiratorially, "isn't catching! Imagine if we all caught it and then the whole temple came down with whatever it is! And then if everyone died there'd be no jedi left to protect the galaxy! And then there'd be nobody to stop all the wars and disagreements," Jemmiah found herself astonished at even thinking about such impossible outcomes, "And we'd end up with some crazy, weird guy running things instead! And there'd be nothing but war and planets getting blown up! Imagine that! All because you didn't go see An-Paj!" Sal-Fina actually managed a semi-amused laugh, although it was more of the eye rolling kind than anything else. "I think your ten year old imagination," she emphasized Jemmiah's age as if it were something criminal to be held against her, "is getting the better of you. No jedi left, indeed! What a fantasy! The day that the jedi become extinct…" "Is the day you die?" Suggested Jemmiah. "Very amusing." Sal-Fina stood up, hurriedly wrapping her arms in the long sleeves of her robes. "I think I will see An-Paj…just to put my mind at rest." She looked scathingly down at Jemmiah for a moment. "Nothing more than that, I assure you. I simply don't want to have to put up with a chill when I can get it fixed in no time at all." But it wouldn't be that simple, Jemmiah grinned to herself. Thanks to Jay she had a whole packet of tablets to dispense in Sal-Fina's drink! If she thought An-Paj was going to bring about a miraculous recovery then she could think again, especially when her water turned fluorescent green…or if she didn't like that then there was always hot pink, just for a change! Jemmiah wanted scream with dizzy delight and do the Corellian 'happy dance' of joy…except that she didn't fancy Ambianca as a partner. We have lots of different dances…the Corellian 'happy dance', the Corellian 'dance of passion'…the Corellian 'jiggle'.Jemmiah thought back to the research she'd done on her home planet and its many varied and interesting customs. There's a Corellian 'fire dance' and a Corellian 'smooch'…that one sounds good, seeing as it involves getting as close to your partner as possible and pressing yourself up as tight against him as you can. Infact, that's how the fire dance and the dance of passion start off too. And the happy dance! Come to think of it, we have loads of different dances for all different things, but they're basically all the same dance. If we had a dance for something as mundane as going to the fresher then you can bet your last Republic credit that it would involve groping somewhere down the line…sounds right up Sal-Fina's street! Corellians were, it seemed, quite liberal compared with the rather severe and pompous Alderaanians. They were also natural pranksters, which reminded Jemmiah of something that needed attending to rather urgently. "You'd think we were cursed or somethin' stupid like that." Jemmiah began to scratch at the front of her scalp. "But if you think this is bad, you should see what it's like at school. There's always something going around. I'm always the first one to get it," she sniffed, "and the last to get rid of it afterwards. I mean, there's this kid I sit more or less besides in class and she's been suffering for the last week or so with…" Jemmiah frowned, attempting to remember the illusive word. "Darn, what is it?!?" Ambianca moved fractionally further away from the girl, pulling her chair marginally back. "Flu?" She suggested. "A cold?" "No…" Jemmiah scraped at her head with her fingernails. "A virus?" Sal-Fina likewise stepped a pace backwards. "Gastric bug?" "No…" Jemmy bit her lip, thinking. "It was…" "What?" "Scritchies." She raked at the sides of her ears. "There's lots of 'em about right now. I sure as hell wouldn't want to be anywhere near someone with scritchies more than I had to! Imagine having to use the same bath towels and linen and stuff…" ENTRY FIFTY ONE: Addendum: (I don't know what that means exactly but it sounds cool! I think it's posh for 'more') Sal-Fina's thrown me out! I have to stay at Master Jinn's place tonight until I wash my hair with the special lotion I said we'd all been given at school, just incase! Hurrah! I can sleep in my old room and dream of better times when Quiggy and Ben are around. It's easier to do that when you are somewhere you love, away from people who don't like you. Watch out Snordle! We're going home! ENTRY FIFTY-TWO: Back to school. Very, very bad day. Sophie pulled my seat away from me as I was sitting down, then she spent the rest of the day throwing flimsy darts at me and sending messages telling me I was going to meet with an accident some time soon. I wish Master Jinn were back, which is stupid because he wouldn't be able to do anything even if he was. That and the fact that I wouldn't tell him. I don't want to upset him at all. I feel like I owe him so much already and that he'd be disappointed if I wasn't enjoying it where I am. So I'll just keep on pretending. They chased me again on the way home but I managed to hide from them until they went past. I got back quite late from school but Sal-Fina didn't notice anyway. She's too preoccupied with 'green' issues… One day later and Jemmiah was starting to view the previously mentioned 'green issues' and the imaginary 'scritchie' problem with new and rather less amused eyes. So preoccupied was Sal-Fina with her dilemma - and not wanting to take any chances with the one she assumed Jemmiah to be suffering from - that the Corellian girl found herself abandoned yet again in circumstances that she liked about as much as being locked in the cupboard. This time she wasn't being hidden away where nobody could see her; instead, Jemmy found herself being told to 'clear off down town' for as long as possible, anything to keep her from under Sal-Fina's feet. A handful of credits had been bundled into her hands (by way of a bribe) along with a shopping order that seemed to Jemmy the worst excuse in the galaxy to get rid of her! All the items on the list could have been ordered via the holoterminal and dropped off at the temple, but had been given into her charge to make certain that Jemmiah accepted her bribe and disappeared! There was one major problem - Jemmiah hated being alone in the sprawling city. Qui-Gon normally did not permit such forays into the heartland of the capital, and with good reason, because the vast, endless mass of buildings, connecting towers, sub blocks and darkened alleyways was certainly no place for a child of ten to visit alone. Even although Jemmiah sometimes felt she were old enough to take on the whole galaxy she knew that it simply was not true, especially given the fact she had the appearance of someone a good many years younger than her actual age. She liked to think she was quite clued up and that the terrible grounding her existence on Nargotria had provided enabled her to think quickly on her feet, always looking for danger. But it worked both ways too, for as Qui-Gon frequently mentioned she saw peril that didn't exist, too. Every shadow held a hidden enemy…each alleyway was a haven of fear and danger for Jemmiah. The difference was on Coruscant she would most likely be correct. The seedier levels held every conceivable vice a person could possibly imagine, and some more besides. Gambling, drug dealers, cantinas and strip clubs, themed bars and brothels. Everything that had been bad in Jemmiah's life before being freed by Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan was readily accessible if you knew where to look for it. Coruscant was a vibrant, lively, dangerous place to live and Jemmiah hated and loved it in equal measure. There was always somebody looking to make a profit out of those less fortunate, and there appeared to no neighborly spirit that she could discern. If somebody mugged you, chances were you'd be stepped over by a busy crowd comprising of people who'd sooner spit on you as soon as look in your direction. The only helpful people Jemmy knew on Coruscant were the jedi - it was part of the job description, really - and even then some of them didn't stick their neck out over the proverbial parapet incase of 'exceeding their mandate'. Did nobody on the planet get along? She'd been chased home by Sophie's gang of thugs already that day - minus Sophie herself due to the fact that she'd been wonderfully, gloriously absent from school, having to attend the cremation of some old relative. Whilst Jemmiah didn't like to see anyone suffer with grief from the loss of a loved one, she couldn't help but rejoice that her nemesis was absent. If only, she reflected with a sigh, they'd been cremating Sophie instead! The remainder of the gang had pursued her all the way past her waiting aircab and half way across the city (okay, that was a gross exaggeration - but still it had seemed like it at the time) until she'd been forced to take refuge behind a garbage skip in an attempt to hide. The ruse had worked, and for the first time in what seemed like years Jemmiah had found herself delighting in the fact she was so small and unnoticeable! Climbing into garbage sacks hadn't been her idea of fun either: the smell tended to linger more than the unpleasant memory. Certainly Sal-Fina had noticed, probably yet another reason she'd thrown her out her apartment for the umpteenth time! As Jemmiah walked about the busy streets, casting wistful looks back over her shoulder at the magnificent jedi temple, she was left to reflect on how lucky she had been to escape from Sophie's gang of thugs on this occasion. It was fortunate for Jemmy that the aircab was still waiting for her when she'd felt able to double back on her tracks, and that the Wookie driver had been quite sympathetic to her tale of woe (even if he had ended up charging the temple extra for making him wait!). He too had wrinkled his nose in disgust at the pervasive smell of garbage wafting into his cab but Jemmy had justified it by telling herself that he must surely have had much worse things in the back seat than a child reeking of rotting gourals and fusty, damp mattresses. Jemmy rubbed at her ankle; a token gesture in deference to her painful feet. Damn Sal-Fina for making her walk! She'd done so much running in the new shoes Qui-Gon had recently bought her that the soles of her feet were all red and swollen, with what felt like giant blisters forming at the back where the leather rubbed at her skin. All she wanted to do was go back to Quiggy's place, fill a basin with hot water mixed with Corellian Orchid bath oil and simply soak her troubles away. The galaxy however seemed to have different ideas… She looked down on the list Sal-Fina had given her and ground her teeth with frustration. What was she, everybody's favorite slave? There was nothing, absolutely nothing on this list that fell into the emergency category, so why send her on such a pointless errand? Or was this somehow the force's idea of retribution for the prank she'd played on Sal-Fina and Ambianca? Jemmiah decided that might possibly be the case, except that the force had to have a sense of humor…and was therefore on the side of the Corellians. Made to take the lift all the way down to the ground exit…not even stopped by those jedi at the reception bay to ask why a young child would be wandering around on her own after school hours…made to wander the streets just so the air might rid herself of the worst of the stink…was there no end to the day's humiliation? And to top it all, Sal-Fina had told her to go into one of the greasy cafés, filled no doubt with equally slimy spacers and hardboiled weirdoes pushing all manner of substances, and get herself a nerf burger! Qui-Gon would have had a fit! He hated fast food! And besides, where was the fun in eating alone? Half tempted to take the money out of her pocket just to check that Sal-Fina hadn't somehow managed to spirit away using some unseen jedi trick, Jemmiah decided to err on the side of caution. It wasn't much money, but there were certainly enough people out there prepared to pounce on innocent looking kids for the sight of even a single credit! No, it would be best to just keep her head down and eyes anchored straight to the pavement below. Coruscant was a truly freaky place! Just to prove her point two strangely dressed men with rather effeminate looking costumes, long feather boas and distinctly dangerous looking high heels staggered out from one of the nearby clubs, zigzagged over to the other side of the walkway and then took it in turns to throw up at the foot of the statue of the Keltorus: a semi-naked mythical creature with a fish's tail, brandishing a wicked looking trident, which sat in a fountain that didn't seem to function properly! The fact that two men would actually wish to dress up in feminine attire didn't cause Jemmy to bat so much as an eyelid, although she couldn't help but feel admiration for anyone who dared to wear heels of such a savage length and still manage to walk! She gazed around her, taking in the sights, sounds and smells. Above, the buildings stretched endlessly towards the sky like giant megaliths: so tall that it almost made Jemmy queasy staring up at them! The most refined areas of the city were to be found amongst the clouds, the impressive views and vistas - not to mention the privacy - an attractive proposition for the rich and elite of Coruscant's society. Down below, at the bottom, dwelt all the characters of the city, and further still in the sewers and subterranean buildings the dispossessed - and those not wishing to be found. Jemmy shivered. Not for her life could she imagine ever wanting to hide away in the sewers! A person would have to be mighty desperate to want to attempt such a thing. The neon lights on the buildings were very pretty though. Big, Aurabesh lettering pulsed on and off at regular intervals advertising all manner of 'entertainment's' and diversions…was that a casino? Jemmiah's eyes lit up. Now THAT seemed like a much more interesting proposition! But of course, being a child meant that she had no hope of even getting as far as the front door. "Maybe not just now." Jemmy jutted out her chin defiantly. "But one day…one day I'll get in there! And then I'll clean 'em all out!" Cantinas, everywhere! You could hardly walk ten paces without finding yourself staring at another one! Drunken patrons were streaming both in and out of the buildings as if part of some elaborate, if badly choreographed dance! Wookies, Rodians, Pethiars, humanoids…all disheveled but clearly having the time of their lives, bustled around the entrances and exits. Why, one Wookie had seemingly fallen asleep in the mouthway of a cantina door - until five hulking females grabbed him by the ankles and dragged him back inside, unprotesting and almost unconscious! "At least they're having fun." Jemmiah sighed, passing one rather dingy looking cantina filled with revelers and exuberant carousers, tankards in hand. "Maybe it's not all bad down here. And Nadine did say that I should experience what it was like on Coruscant and enjoy myself…" she cast her eyes down at her flimsy shopping list. "I don't think this was what she had in mind somehow." Splat! A large drop of water fell squarely on the piece of folded flimsy, spreading itself instantly outwards from the initial impact until it threatened to make contact with Sal-Fina's stylus scratched writing. Jemmiah blinked, astonished, then looked up again - only to be met with a similar large drop hitting her smack on the nose, running backwards towards her forehead. Annoyed, Jemmy wiped the moisture away. Rain?!? On Coruscant? Oh, fantastic - just what she needed! Certainly the sky had gotten darker since leaving the temple, but still! And she hadn't brought her jacket or anything! Now what did she do? The cantinas wouldn't let her shelter inside - infact none of them would, given their somewhat adult nature. If the heavens truly opened then she was going to get utterly soaked to the skin…and then she'd end up showing Sal-Fina exactly what a REAL chill was like! Not that the arrogant jedi would care at all. The only thing Sal-Fina cared about was getting a good deal on in-season petal fruit! Maybe, Jemmy groaned, if she hadn't helped herself to the ones lying so enticingly on the table within the fruit basket then she wouldn't have been sent on such a pathetic errand. What other ridiculous items were on the list? What was that…a jar of pickled…? Jemmy squinted at the word, trying to make it out. Hadn't the crèche masters taught Sal-Fina how to write when she was a child? Her penmanship was abysmal! She held the flimsy at arms length, trying to focus on the lettering. Splosh! Another large droplet of water fell upon the list, this time causing the writing to turn into a large, blue streak of ink. There was no question that the rain was about to break. "Great!" Jemmiah cursed under her breath. "Just great! Covered in garbage AND soaked! It gets better and better! Sal-Fina will kill me if I don't find the place I'm supposed to go for her shopping! Am I meant to trudge around, soaked to the bone until I find it?" Qui-Gon had once told her that, for better or worse, the weather on Coruscant was 'controlled' so that there would never be too much of one type of weather in the same area. As a newcomer Jemmiah wasn't sure precisely what that entailed, but she gathered that it had something to do with the Chancellor and his family slipping the met people lots of credits so that the snow didn't melt on their skiing trip to the mountainous regions of the planet. "I want to know which Nerf's are controlling it." Jemmiah glowered up at the sky, severely tempted to make a rude gesture to the weather controllers. "Not making a good job of it, are they?" As the minutes progressed the thunder seemed to grow louder than ever, until the noise reverberated off the side of the buildings, scaring Jemmiah more than she would care to admit. Perhaps the lightening would strike the buildings, sending them crashing to the ground? What then? There would be no Qui-Gon to know she was missing…and who would come and look for her then? The rain began to lash down so hard that it seemed to dance on the pavement some several inches high, soaking the new shoes that Qui-Gon had bought her. She hoped with all her might that they were not ruined - it would heartily displease him! And it would be Sal-Fina's fault: again! She hugged herself in a bid to keep even the slightest bit dry - a fruitless gesture. In normal circumstances she might have laughed but after all the madness that had been happening of late Jemmiah couldn't so much as raise a smile. Slinking back in the direction of the temple, admitting defeat and not particularly caring at that point whether Sal-Fina chewed her out of not for coming back empty handed, Jemmy felt a hand suddenly circle her wrist and pull her to the side of the walkway, just off the main pedestrian road. "Hello." The voice all but leered at her, freezing Jemmy in her tracks. "It's good to see you…" |
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