Dim Crystals

[Rock]

Another shake. The shield indicator glared dangerously; several red areas showed where the shield was damaged. Military-grade shields, indeed. At this rate, he'd plummet to the ground-another shudder rocked the ship as the unkown fighter's blast hit him.

"Haar'chak!" He swore viciously as he fought to bring the controls to bear. No use. Instead, he let the ship freak as it was wanting to do, but wrestled it with a little success in a corkscrew dive, sharp and intense.

He entered the atmosphere and the G-forces built up, slamming him back. He fought to bend his neck to see where he was going, though, and his hands stayed up with visible effort. Under his armor, veins poked their way out across his muscles. He forced the ship into submission, and the Atmosphere was breached.

Several more shots found him and the shield burned away, making him release several words best left unwritten. The sakagal plummeted, several parts melting slightly as the lower atmosphere still pushed against it.

Then the cloud cover came rushing up. Rock just pushed the sublight engines to go faster, shoving the controls down. More bolts streaked past him as the fighter's ship, fully intact, dove straight down after him. None hit, though.

The two-person fighter was in the area on entry, for who-knows-what. The thus unidentified had obviously felt hostile today and came charging right after him-Rock didn't even have any time to react, just went streaking towards the planet.

He just saw a fighter, and suddenly it banked from its present course and began firing on him.

So here he was, breaking the cloud cover. The Transparisteel viewpoint revealed nothing of the land around him, and as his ship hurtled towards land, the altimeter was the only thing telling him of his descent. Another bolt hit him, and another-both on the right wings.

Doesn't she give up?!

He forced the dive to become a spin, g-forces rocking him beyond his bodily limits. All of his focus went into controlling the Starfighter so it wouldn't crash, and his brought the controls back as he leveled out.

The streaked up, pulling up almost in time...too late.

Thunderous convulsions rocked the ship, and it skidded on the ground. Once it bounced, it collided with a bank of snow and was almost completely buried-the cockpit protruded outwards.

Rock, amazingly, was still conscious-but his shoulder was pierced by a pice of metal right where the neck meets the shoulder-a weaker point of his armor. Bare muscle was split, and he gritted his teeth as his left hand reached up to grip the shard. He really, really wanted to pull it out, but he'd have to keep it in to keep blood loss from killing him.

Power was still on...the ship was okay. No damage except for the blaster shots and the shield would take time to recharge. Okay, good.

But he couldn't move the ship yet. Wind howled and snow quickly covered the transparisteel cover, and he realized that if he didn't open it now and get out, he'd be trapped.

So Rock, with a shapr piece of metal in his shoulder, rammed the top with his shoulder, growling in pain as the opposite shoulder spiked. He kept a hand on it as he rammed the transparisteel again, and it budged. Gathering his weapons, he stumbled out and the Astromech Droid built into the ship closed the thing for him.

Rock couldn't stay there. He'd be gunned down very fast.

So, he ran. His PAC20 blinked as he pulled up a map and he ran to a nearby mountain-only a half a kilometer. He'd make it without freezing and Ophelia would never find him.

Pretty soon, the mound of snow covering his ship was swallowed by the howling snow.

/Haar'chek...look it up xD

Sakagel = X-Wing\

[Ophelia]

Ophelia smirked as another blaster shot hit the fighter's left wing. It had been a pleasant surprise when she had come out of hyperspace only to find the ship of her mark just moseying along there, so she took the chance while she had it. She wasn't particularly aiming to destroy his ship, or him, but she wanted him grounded and fast. She wanted to see his face. And to...

Well, she was surprised to find that she didn't really want to kill him anymore. Just torture him a bit. Still, it was just odd how she had taken to him so quickly, and she didn't like it. She wanted an explanation, and the best way to get it was to get him in a situation he couldn't run away.

He seemed to be very good at that.

Finally, he seemed to navigate a course for the nearby ice planet she had scouted on her sensors, Ilum. Once prized for it's highly Force-sensitive crystals, the planet had been practically purged of them over the last few thousand years. Few ever went there anymore, so it would be a perfect place to track him.

Ophelia kept a lock on his ship's signature, and prepared to land on the dense ice planet. She turned the heating sensors on her ship on, prepared for the ice and snow that she would find there. Though it would not stop the snow and ice from completely covering the ship, it would keep the systems activated enough for her to get back to it. Slowly, she descended into the atmosphere.

Several minutes later, the large lump under the six feet or so of snow indicated where the Taung had landed his ship. It was impossible to track his course through the snow, so Opheila broke out her map of this sector of the planet. There was shelter nearly a kilometer from here, and if he was any kind of smart he would be heading in that direction. So Ophelia suited herself up in some environmental gear, and went out searching.

Even with the gear, she was still cold. But she bet that she wasn't as cold as her elusive prey. The kilometer hike felt like an hour, especially through the thick snowfall, but she hadn't had room on her ship for any kind of snow speeder. She'd just have to deal with it.

When she got to one of the canyons of the mountain, the cool wind stopped hitting her, and she sighed in relief. He'd probably be in one of the caves along this stretch, if he was smart. She didn't know if he was injured or not, but if he was he that probably turned into definitely. All that was left was to find him.

The first five caves she went into were extremely hard to locate. One behind a sheer cliff face, and another cleverly hidden by a snowdrift. No way he'd be in there. The caves were bare of any sort of crystal, and in a way Ophelia was disappointed.
She had always heard that the crystals from these caves were beautiful, and maybe a small crystal would eventually coax Jerry to forgive her for making off, alone, in their ship and leaving her blonde sister on the space station.

Ophelia winced involuntarily. This had better be worth it.

The next cave, however, might have some potential. She unholstered her blaster, cautiously entering the cave on silent footsteps. He might be in here, might not. But it was always worth being cautious. The most cornered prey was the most dangerous.

[Rock]

Rock stumbledi n the cave. Stupid decision. He knew that he could of stayed in his ship and been warm, fed, and unseen. But No, he had to jmup out into the wind and snow. At least this cave would prevent the wind from getting to him. The sharp metal in his shoulder barely bothered him, although it spike with pain if he moved his arm too much.

He had been able to strap his weapons on-including both of his axes. So he was well-prepared to take on that merc if he should come. he cave entrance was small-only two meters tall and a meter wide. He ducked slightly, entered, and looked around.

The smell was terrible through his helmet. An old, abandoned Gorgodon nests reeked of feces and very old kills.

Yet, he had to go further in. He cast his eyes around the dimly lit area, searching for an entrance into another room of the cave. There-a crack just big enough for him...he's have to remove his helmet.

He crossed the cave in fifteen strides, taking off his helmet and sliding it into the next room. He sidled in, scraping his tattoo on an jutting rock. Purple blood, a thin line from the scare, leaked down his face between his eyes as he protruded out into the next room.

He gaped.

Crystals of bright colors, but dim light lined the walls like soldiers in random places. Clusters-both huge and little-grouped, both on the walls, the ceiling, and the floor. He walked around and the more he got into the cave, the brighter they glowed. They seemed attuned to his presence.

He picked up his helmet at the base of the biggest Crystal grouping, staring in awe at the dim, blue light. He himself was glowing in several different colors as he placed his helmet back on.

He was cold. Very cold. The crystals were warm, sort of. He'd sit...that felt better.

Man, that shard was hurting him. He decided to wait for a few minutes before he yanked it out. He sat in a position to watch the crack he'd com in through, but he laid still so it looked like he was asleep..or dead. Maybe it'd fool him.

He leaned his had back against the crystals.

[Ophelia]

The first thing Ophelia thought when she walked in was that he was probably definitely in here. Even though she desperately wished he wasn't. The smell was one of the most horrid things she had ever had the misfortune of walking in on, and that included a bag full of her older brother's old training gear that he had worked out in, and then left for six months. She did, however, hold in the hiss of displeasure. The last thing she wanted was to hint to the Taung that there was someone else in there.

She walked forward on silent feet, keeping her gear on. It was still freezing in the cave, so she didn't really feel the need to take it off. Ophelia had gone around the whole perimeter and paused, frowning under the helmet.

He had to be here. She didn't know how she knew, she just... felt it.

However, after she had been there for a few minutes, she noticed a slight glow coming from a slender crack in the wall. For a moment, she shook her head and prepared to leave. That crack was barely big enough for herself, let alone a nearly 7 foot tall warrior alien. But if it was glowing, maybe there was a crystal or two left. Either way, it was worth a look.

But she wouldn't get through with all of her outer gear on. Quietly, she stripped off the first few heavy jacket layers over her armor, and her helmet. Hair in a bun to better fit under the helmet. She slipped through the crack, excited in spite of herself.

As soon as she entered, she stopped, staring at the crystals with slack jawed wonder. The crystals glowed in so many different colors it was hard to keep track of all of them. Some crystals even changed colors themselves. One formation that she was immediately drawn to turned from a low keyed green to a bright, vivid blue. However, then she spotted something at the base of one of the crystal pillars, and next to it a lump.

So he was here after all, was he?

Carefully, she set the helmet down, her heart beating a thousand times a second. Stealthy as a cat, she crept toward the figure, a blaster pistol held in her left hand. He seemed to be asleep, but... but she couldn't be sure. If he was raised by Mandalorians, he wouldn't rest that easy.

Well, that explained it. He was injured, and bleeding purple blood over himself. Ophelia was surprised and alarmed to feel herself feel a bit panicky about it.

Well, now that was stupid.

Her blaster pistol pointed at his chest, she reached with her opposite hand to check for a pulse. She could not tell how shallow he was breathing, or if he was breathing at all in the crystal lit dimness of the cave. His armor blended perfectly against the wall.

[Rock]

Rock watched her entire actions through the slits in his helmet.

He was expecting the mercenary to come in, but he didn't expect...her. He was both extremely pleased and very panicked.

He was pleased because, well, after one brief meeting, he liked her. He loved the look of her body, the feel of her lips, and the press of her body against his. Honestly, he ached to be around her, and to get to know her...and to know her name.

He was also panicky because he grabbed the shebs of a woman like her. It was worth it-nice and firm-but he didn't want to be tortured into celibacy by her for it. He needed to subdue her and do it fast, or else he wouldn't enjoy the rest of the day.

He watched, staying completely still as she bent down, and extended her free hand to his neck. He was half tempted to let her touch him, in only for the electric feeling again...but no.

His hand shot up and grabbed the writs with the blaster, pressing a pressure point to flex her fingers and drop the pistol. He brought the hand down to force her to bend farther, but he didn't have the leverage to overcome her strength.

Suddenly, the free hand streaked towards his unprotected throat, butting it hard. He gagged, and his eyes squeezed shut, but he threw a hand around her left shoulder, grabbed the right shoulder, and yanked back and to the left.

She flipped as he opened his eyes, and he brought his hand around to grip her left elbow. He was being gentle with her, but firm. His throat hurt.

"You know," he rasped. He stood and brought her up with him. "I could kill or seriously injure you right now. My throat won't feel that good for a while, and that would make me angry." He tightened his grip slightly, but then let his hands off and walked to the left, swooping up her blaster. "But I'm not." Voice was getting better.

He examined it, and turned towards her. He didn't know what to say...he stared directly into her eyes, with a slight smile on his face. They were two meters away. What could he say that would catch her off-guard and make her not attack him...he had it. soemthing from the heart.

He asked curiously, "What is your name?"

/Shebs = Rear, backside.\

[Ophelia]

"First off, give me my blaster back. Second off, my name's Ophelia. Of Clan Ordo. And I'm not sorry for punching you. You scared me. You deserve it. And a lot more, for what you pulled last time we met."

Ophelia sounded a bit angry, but mostly sounded like that to cover the confusion. She held out her right hand expectantly for the blaster, opposite hand on her hip and forcing it to one side.

It made her nervous, being this close to him. She felt like she was going to boil, and freeze at the same time. She shivered violently from the cold, even the warmth of the crystals not being enough to keep it at bay. The crystals seemed to shiver more and more violently, changing colors rapidly to fit their mood. Ophelia tilted her head to the side, cinnamon eyes narrowing.

"You do know you have a piece of shrapnel sticking out from your shoulder, right? Here, let me see."

Oddly enough, she didn't really want to kill him anymore. She walked forward, frowning slightly.

[Rock]

The light of the crystals shone on him as he grinned, throwing the blaster expertly to her open hand. How could he not? She was sexy enough to empty out any bar in Coruscant as she walked out.

"Ophelia." his voice, through the helmet, sounded like a droid's. But the emotion in his voice as something...clicked shone through. "It's a good name. I like it, at least." The Supercommando shrugged, saying, "Well, you certainly are beautiful. If you had a name like Nemodian, it wouldn't matter." His wicked grin was apparent in his voice.

But then she moved towards him to remove the blaster protruding from his shoulder. "Oh, don't worry about it..." He began, but she crossed the distance easily.

He grew wary. He could see her face and she could mask it-he could see that she didn't mean to kill him. But she could easily mask and project emotion-she wouldn't care for him after the stunt he pulled.

Yet, if he tried to remove it it wouldn't come out as smoothly as if he removed it. So, he let the woman approach and deliberately kept his hands back. He forced his body to relax-it'd hurt more if he were tense.

[Ophelia]

Ophelia caught the blaster with a grin to the young Taung, holstering it and approaching a few more feet. Her hands reached up to touch the outside of his upper arm, tracing up the intricate armor until she got to the area where the shrapnel was embedded. She shifted some of the armor away from the wound, and could feel the skin heated under her hand. Great, with just their luck it was infected.

"What's your name, then? I don't think I caught it the last time we met."

Really, the words were a distraction. Ophelia carried an emergency medpack on her at all times, even in a situation like this one. Hopefully, it would be enough to keep the wound stable until he got somewhere with better medical supplies.

"You know, when you groped me."

And in the middle of that sentence, she wrapped her hand around the shrapnel and pulled it out without any warning, in one quick and solid motion. She put pressure on the wound, knowing it would hurt but confident he would stay still. No Mandalorian worth his salt would interfere with an emergency medical process.

Purple blood leaked through her fingers as she wadded together a pad of white bandage, pressing it in place of her hand against the wound. The bleeding was quick at first, but with the pressure, it grew more sluggish.

"Nasty wound you have there. I would say take your armor off so I can wrap it, but it's a little cold for that."

Now, she was a little bit nervous. Just a little, you understand. The crystals around them glowed in a steady light, one tiny stalactite turning green from the blue it was before. Having him this close, even in this situation, it was... well, it was like a drug. Intoxicating. Her cinnamon eyes wandered, against her will, to the column of the Taung's strong neck. She gulped slightly. The small crystal turned into a delicate pink.

[Rock]

As she came closer, his heart beat faster. Inside his helmet, he sweated, the slits moving down to look at her as he stayed still and she walked to him slowly. She touched him and he gulped, feeling the press of his armor as she traced her hand up. He thought, She's doing it purposely, I know it.

If she could see his face, she'd probably laugh. It was a paranoid look, where he couldn't focus on his pain. It seemed the more he looked at her, the less his shoulder hurt.

She touched his wound and his breath sucked in sharply, in a hiss. The only sign of discomfort her gave besides that, was moving his head to the left so that she could see it better.

"What's your name, then? I don't think I caught it the last time we met."

"My name is Rarckokoo Athaichoso. I call myself Rock, though." He said. Something was telling him...to watch out. She spoke again.

Never ignore the warrior's instinct.

She said, "You know," and ripping pain blossomed through his shoulder and neck, making him release a deep, but controlled growl of pain and relief. At least he could move freely, and he'd taken worse wounds. The shrapnel clattered to the gorund as she threw it away.

Then she finished as her delicate fingers pressed against the wound. Steam rose from his blood, pushing out in great rivulets. He'd have to clean his armor before stepping out in the snow again, or else it'd freeze.

when you groped me."

He laughed. "Wat else could I do when in contact with such a beautiful woman?" He said matter-of-factly. "Especially when it was so close to my hand that I could feel it tingling." A low, throaty chuckle.

"You don't have to worry about the chance of me doing it again now, I'm too focused on this bleeding. You may remove my armor if you wish, although iI will do it anyway and wrap the wound myself if you don't."

He didn't mention the fact that the cold didn't bother him too much-he didn't want to be arrogant. And enither did he want to stop the process. She might nto go for it if she heard him say that.

[Ophelia]

"You know, telling me that my ass is tingly isn't exactly the best way to assure me of my good looks, Rock."

His name rolled off of her lips and tongue surprisingly easily, and Ophelia couldn't help but grin slightly. Making fun of the Taung was surprisingly fun, and even the shock of meeting the race she had been studying since she was a child wasn't enough to make her stop that. Ophelia removed the armor from the elbow straight to the other shoulder, bandages already spread across her knee.

The air inside the cave was pleasantly warm, so much so that the bit of a cool breeze coming in from the outside was a pleasure rather than chilly. The Taung's chest was all smooth, bulging muscle and power, enough that it sent the slightest shiver down the Mandalorian's spine.

Pah! What was she thinking? She had a job to do, and here she was sitting here and lolly gagging around. With a frown, she went to work, but not before her fingertips slid over the pectoral muscle on the left side of his chest ever so lightly.

Well, she knew how to wrap a wound. Luckily, it looked like he had just started to stop bleeding, so she wouldn't have to change the bandage for a bit. She leaned back, appraising her work with a practiced eye while she rubbed the purple blood off of her hand with a stray bit of bandage.

"It'll due until you get to a medical center. I think I have some antibiotics in here somewhere."

She turned her upper body to search through the back, pressing the fabric to her side. It was obvious that Ophelia had some muscle herself. It was nothing like Rocks, but well she considered that a good thing.

"I guess..." She cleared her throat, handing the Taung two pills and leaning back against a stalactite. "I should apologize for shooting you down."

It was a good shot though, Ophelia mused to herself.

[Rock]

Rock grinned at her comment. "I think that no one would have to tell you that you're beautiful." the Mando Ori'ramikade He sat down with her and the bandage went on. He noticed her looking at him, and he wasn't mad about it-rather, pleased. his pectoral twitched at her contact, but he hoped she'd think it was a chill. His steel gray skin rippled as he moved to allow her to put the bandage on.

He leaned back when she was done, satisfied. Testing his arm, he nodded appreciatively. "Good. I like it. Thank you very much, Ophelia." The name sounded so good on his lips.

She turned around and rummaged around in her pack; he admired the look of her body. Smiling slightly, he took the pills and set them no his leg. The fasteners clicked as they were released, and his face was shown to her once more.

Rock pooled spit in his mouth and threw the pills past his sharp teeth, gulping quietly. The Taung's Adam's apple bobbed as it forced the pills down, and he shook his head, grunting.

She apologized to him, her eyes downcast. When she lifted them to make eye contact with his purple ones, he smiled warmly, expressing and outward kindness and caring.

But his heart fluttered, nonetheless.. "You should. Good shot, anyway." He complimented, the grin getting witty. "Why did you attack me in the first place?" He knew the answer, but it'd help her more to say her feelings. Rock's helmet lay at his side, on the skull part, forgotten in the dust when he looked on her face again.

He couldn't get over how beautiful she was.

[Ophelia]

Ophelia sighed, resting her head against the crystal formation and closing her eyes for a moment. This just seemed so surreal to her. It seemed like she had been in this position before, alone with him countless times before. A twinge of nervousness fluttered about in her chest, making her wish that she had brought her sister with her anyway. Ophelia was not unexperienced when it came to the opposite sex, but this seemed so different to her.

Why she had shot him? Ophelia snorted and shook her head, sitting back up straight and opening her eyes to glare half heartedly at him. She brought her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on one of them and regarding him with a soft, but confused expression. She ran her fingers over her head, wondering how she could phrase this.

"I guess I shot you because.... I dunno. At first I wanted to kill you. Or at least I thought I did. But then, shooting you down above the planet, I just wanted to see you face to face."

Her explanation was quiet, and thoughtful, but then her lips broke into a grin and she laughed, shrugging her shoulders slightly.

"Typical Mandalorian. Sometimes, I wonder why we don't just club each other over the head and drag them to a nearby cave."

[Rock]

Rock laughed, as well. It was a low, throaty chuckle, and he said, "But, Ophelia, you did drag me in by my dreadlocks." Or, at least, that's what he called them. they weren't the long fibers of human hair, rather an extension of flesh. Without a Taung to teach him, he was clueless. He really had no information on them, as he didn't have time to do research or personal pursuits.

As a Supercommando, he was called everywhere to be sent into combat first, hit them hard, and then pull out. Quick, clean and efficient-what time was not spent fighting the enemies of Mand'alor, was spent training, playing games with the other members of the group.

Many times, they played a talking game. They close their eyes and describe the first thing about what they first noticed when they opened their eyes, and their partner would say it word by word back to them. Sometimes, a third partner would say it and describe something else about one of the others and the alternate would repeat it.

The purpose was to listen to what the members of your group were saying; to oil the hinges of the machine. With understanding comes teamwork.

But nothing about combat, games, or training prepared him for dealign with the opposite sex-even though there were no Taung women. He judged that there was probably no female Taung DNA the scientists found. Rock was nervous beyond comparison, and if he hadn't been in battle many times, he'd be shaking uncontrollably.

He harrumphed as he cleared his throat, and leaned in closer, now only a meter away from her face. "What do you know of Taungs?" He asked bluntly. Subtlety was onyl for the battlefield.

[Ophelia]

Well, it was a good thing that Ophelia wasn't expecting subtle from the Taung. It was odd being in the presence of a race that had been extinct for a few thousand years now. The last had died during the time of Revan and Exile, during one of the great Sith Jedi civil wars. But either way, she never thought that her studying of the ancient Taung race would ever bear fruit. Looked like it was a good thing.

She stared casually straight back into his face, her look almost bored with how close his face was to hers. It was a matter of pride, after all. Ophelia didn't care if he was the hottest thing on two legs, she still wouldn't let him intimidate her.

After all, it would set a bad precedent for future incidents between them.

Ophelia casually pulled out a strip of jerky, throwing one to him without asking him if he wanted one. After all, a Taung male seemed to always be perpetually hungry. Even the half blooded ones.

Ophelia frowned, staring at the jerky in slight surprise. Of course, the only way that one could see that would be her slightly raised eyebrows. Nothing in her research had ever indicated anything like THAT.

"I know the most out of almost any Mando'a out there. I've collected every scrap of information, every shred of lore, anything I could get my dirty little mercenary paws on to learn about your kind."

Ophelia's eyes shown with the light of a scholar. Well, maybe just a little bit. It was obvious that the history of the Taungs was a passion. One that her parents had been confused about, to say the least. Either way, it seemed to be beneficial now.

"Why do you ask?" She purred teasingly, a grin breaking over her face. Oh, she so did enjoy teasing Rock. It was one of her favorite hobbies.

[Rock]

Rock took the Jerky without moving, just taking it. He did break eye contact, though, casting his purple eyes down her body as he bit into the jerky tearing off a piece.

It was tasty. Rock's thoughts never specified what he meant.

He shifted as he brought his legs around to sit cross-legged. at her teasing, he grinned widely, showing his sharp frontal teeth. "I have a good friend who is a Taung, and he asked em to find soem things out. what were they like?"

He made eye contact with her again at the comment, a glint in his eye and a content smile on his face. Rock enjoyed this. The surroundings, the warm envoronment, Ophelia's presence. Even though he wore no top, he was warm and comftorable.

His purple eyes gazed into hers, then flicked down to her body. Honestly, she always looked better without the thermal jumpsuit.

He looked back up at her. 'Always?' Where did that come from?