The White Phoenix

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

"Ambjitjion, jintujitjion, and cunnjing."

Rai's ears skewed, then perked.

"Thejy don't ssound asss noble asss vjirrtuess, but no woman can excel wjithout at leasst one."

[Phrexus Krale]

Finally he resumed his brushing, and turning away from her, leaned down to spit a stream of frothed paste and saliva into a sink. A pass of his free hand over the water activator, and he rinsed off his brush before letting it fall to the counter. Cupping his hand, he brought up a handful of water to his mouth. A second later he spit it all back out again.

"You intend to be a survivor, then."

The corner of his towel was brought up, and he wiped his mouth free of any excess buildup left over from the paste.

"Those three are good traits to have, if that is what you're wanting."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

"What good arre vjirrtuess jif jyou don't ssurrvjive?" Rai scoffed. "Hjisstorrjy bookss arre fjilled wjith verrjy vjirrtuouss and verrjy dead people, Arr Krrale. jI have no jintentjion of jojinjing thejirr numberr. Whetherr that'ss jin the face of a hosstjile takeoverr orr a blassterr."

Rai whipped one towel around her chest before furiously scrubbing her hair with another, then drawing it and twisting it atop her head into a turban.

"Can jI assk jyou ssomethjing?"

[Phrexus Krale]

She whipped out a snappy reply that only made him roll his eyes. Gathering the rest of his toiletries, he'd thrown his towel over his shoulder when her question gave him pause.

He thought on the possibility of simply telling her no, and to keep walking. But, she had asked in earnest, it seemed, and so he obliged with a slight grumble that seemed only partially feigned.

"I don't know. Can you?"

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

"Hass anjyone everr wrronged jyou deepljy? jI don't mean ssomethjing asss bjig asss the warr wjith the Empjirre, jI mean jyou perrssonalljy?"

Rai stared intently, needing to hear the Besalisk's insights. Her tail slowed its sway until it stilled.

"To the pojint of takjing rrevenge?"

[Phrexus Krale]

He stared down at her, knobby brow furrowing as his eyes narrowed. What she asked, it was a request that compelled him to dig into a past that was of the sort that he'd rather forget.

"Well," his gravelly voice was low and thoughtful, "I suppose the better question is 'which time hurt the most'."

She seemed undeterred, and he let out a long breath, turning briefly to finish gathering his toiletries into their tote before snatching it from the steel countertop.

"I had a sister. Younger. She did nothing but smile and laugh."

Drawing up to his full height, the Besalisk now towered over Rai'faani.

"Until the day that she did neither, because of an Imperial pilot. Her crime was buying flowers, and taking joy in them. She bumped into him on a pedway, and he didn't think that she was 'sorry enough'."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

It was easy enough to paint the image in her mind, because Rai'faani already had the sanguine shades. The biting sense of loss of her father - that could easily be a sister.

"What djid jyou do?" She asked Phrexus quietly, her breath quickening somewhat.

Rai didn't have to ask what became of his sister. The kind of man who was embittered enough to not only become a rebel, but a half-mad hermit of a rebel - there was no happy tale waiting to be heard. She didn't need Phrexus to tell her about grief. She wanted something beyond.

[Phrexus Krale]

"It took a while, but I found the pilot. Didn't take too awful long, since back then there were some in the Empire who liked to brag about the things they did, knowing they wouldn't be caught or punished."

Still he stared down at her. There was a terrible calm that seemed to rest in his gaze.

"After all, they were the ones in charge, weren't they? They held the power."

One meaty, muscly finger came up.

"Until the day I found him. Wing Lt. Karu Tayban learned what metal girders tasted like that day."

The Besalisk felt his shoulders hunch forward, as though he was remembering the rhythmic, staccato beat of a head repeatedly hitting a support pylon until it was nothing but blood, shattered bone, and ground bantha meat.

"I left him in the lower levels for the womprats to finish off the carcass."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

The Besalisk skimped on the visceral details, and Rai didn't press him for those.

"And afterrwarrd? Djid jit change anjythjing? Would jyou do jit agajin, jif gjiven the chance?"

[Phrexus Krale]

"Some will tell you that it changes nothing - that your loved one is still dead and all that you've done is create another lifeless body. But, if I had to relive my life a thousand times," slowly, he leaned down, head angling to the side.

"... I would destroy that man. Each. And. Every. Time."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

Rai's expression didn't change, but she tightened her fingers into fists, feeling the tips of her claws press against the skin of her palms until pain.

"Thank jyou forr jyourr candorr, Arr Krrale."

At last she relented, feeling the beginnings of her own blood welling against her fingers, and the endorphins that followed. Now, more than ever, she wanted to kill the man who killed her father. In the present, she'd have to settle for killing him a thousand times over in her mind.

"jI have to get drressed now."

[Phrexus Krale]

With a grunt as her only answer, Krale lumbered his way past the waifish Cizerack.

"Don't take too long," he mumbled out, "Samus is out feeding the tauntauns, and when he comes back, we eat breakfast."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

Rai quickly returned to her room, getting dressed as quickly as possible to prevent the cold from setting in. By the time she pulled on her parka, the shivering had begun. As she rifled through her belongings, it ebbed. She pulled out the med kit she had let Samus borrow two nights prior, finding the kolto bandage roll. She double-wrapped her palms where her claws had dug in during her conversation with Phrexus. Upon putting it back, the heiress saw her a familiar makeup compact at the bottom of her kit.

* * *

"Good morrnjing Ssamuss." Rai purred, the vulnerabilities of the morning left behind her as she entered the tauntaun pen. Her nose crinkled as the unpleasant odors of the stalls hit, but she otherwise didn't protest it. Surveying the layout of the pen, Rai moved to hoist a hay bale from a high stack at the far wall, moving it to the stalls opposite the ones Samus was working.

[Q. Samus Dage]

In the last stages of making sure that one of the feeding troughs was filled, Samus turned to give Rai'fa a quick glance.

"Didn't expect you to be up so early," he grunted out. There was no condemnation in his voice, just a simple statement of fact.

"But, it's good to see you out and about regardless."

Shifting his body weight to the side, the blonde peered into the heated water tank, and satisfied that the water level was where it needed to be, he turned on a heel to tromp back through the snow toward the sheltered stalls.

"There's a busted section of dune fence out on the easterly range that Krale wants us to fix," he went on, "... figure we'll go back in after this to pack up some lunch, let these stenchbags finish eating while we get our gear, then head out."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

"That'ss fjine." Rai grunted as she shifted her weight to carry the hay bale, moving it towards the feed trough. She hooked her claws under the cord, working at it until she felt the snap beneath her fingers. She quickly pulled apart the fodder, tossing handfuls into the feeding area before dusting her hands off.

[Q. Samus Dage]

She was determined to keep pace, and Samus gave her every chance to do just that. And when the morning chores had been tended to, he led the way back inside. Their boots tromped on the durracrete floor, each stomping off excess snow buildup as they continued further inside.

"I don't know exactly what's in the food stocks, so it'll be like Life Day in the trenches, so to speak."

He gave her a wink then, as they passed through the doorway that would lead into the common room, followed by an almost brotherly elbow into her shoulder.

"Least you get to pick out what you eat, even if pickings may be slim."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

By now, the thought of the food in this place had dulled from an outrage to an endured indifference, and Rai shrugged slightly at the thought of wading through rations of dubious quality. The jeeta also helped to keep her mood on even keel, igniting a warmth in her belly that radiated to her extremities and kept the cold from biting.

Of course, it also ignited other things as well. The endorphin rush lightened her mood and sharpened her senses, such as the way Samus smelled after the mild exertion of the morning. It made Rai'faani keenly aware of her deprivations. Krale had her figured out, she had wanted to find Samus as the other person in the shower. She could tell herself it was just for the viewing, but that wasn't the whole of it. When the human elbowed her shoulder, Rai'faani trilled slightly, her ears perking at the contact. She grinned, following him close.

[Phrexus Krale]

"About time the two of you finished your morning chores!"

The bellowing voice met the both of them, as Phrexus Krale finished the last touches on his breakfast preparation. It was a simple meal, with shaak bacon strips from his private reserve, a few tuber hash patties, some scrambled nuna eggs with Rodian steak spice mixed in, and a few slices of toasted bread. Nothing fancy, but he was at least mindful enough to make sure to feed the bellies of those who were taking over his normal daily tasks, even if it was for a short period of time.

"I hope those lazy stinkbeasts didn't give too much trouble," came the following response, his words a deep gravelly rumble as they left his mouth.

"Since you two are going out into the pastures today to do repairs, I thought I would make a filling breakfast to keep you warm."

There was a strange, gentle sort of caring in his motions as he doled out the portions onto three plates. And when that task was finished, he lifted up the first, holding it out toward Rai'faani.

"Ladies first."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

The smell of a warm breakfast reached her before the Besalisk's booming voice. Rai'faani raised an eyebrow at what passed for spectacle in this frozen outposet, glancing to Dage momentarily before returning her attention. It was still what passed for food for forrda, but this was obviously not some embalmed abomination like what she'd endured the first day.

She took her plate, giving a slight nod of her head.

"Verrjy grracjiouss, Arr Krrale."

[Phrexus Krale]

He beamed wide, showing a row a teeth.

"Anything to keep you from eating my tookas," he chuckled while handing an identical plate to Samus.

Moments later he took up his own.

"Forks are there," a gesture to the two utensils sitting atop a pair of cloth napkins.

"Now," he continued, "... don't expect food like this for every morning. I'm only helping you because you're helping me."

Another grin, and he scooped up a forkful of eggs which was summarily shoveled into his ready-and-waiting maw.