Vahl woke up late in the morning, he wasted a lot of time last night lifting weights and trying to think about how he can counter the odd fighting style of the kasathas he fought against. He walked outside to head toward the arena, passing through the same stinky and dirty streets, he passed through the same market as yesterday where the pirates fought. On the ground to the side of the market two stripped pirates lay, the same two that started the fight against the other group yesterday. Their gear and weapons must have been taken by the other pirates; they were decent enough to leave the corpses clothed but it wasn’t enough to hide the terrible stench of burnt flesh.

Vahl arrived at Korva’s bar & arena around noon, usually it opened at sunrise and the fights start right away, there was one going on now. The crowd watching seemed to be a lot happier than they usually are, which says a lot as Korva works her ass off to make as many people happy and entertained as possible. Vahl was curious and looked over the heads of the small humans watching. Inside the pit the same kasathas that he fought against yesterday was fighting against two different humans, fighting both at the same time by using four different knives that she carried in each of her four hands. The fight was a brilliant display of how a slightly experienced person that doesn’t even seem to focus on using knives can still easily fight against untrained and unexperienced people. Perhaps this kasathas was also trying to be a soldier like Vahl, but he never heard of a soldier that could inspire others like she did yesterday. In no time at all she won the fight and the crowd cheered for putting on such a good show. Vahl turned to the bar, interested in how skilled she was if she had everything she needed to fight properly. Vahl stood at his regular spot at the bar, trying to drink the troubles away to no success. Once Korva got back from the fight they started talking about random matters, passing the time and trying to enjoy the company to forget about daily issues and worries.

After a few more pit matches and drinks, most that involved the same kasathas or the same bland alcohol, a man in clean clothing walked into the bar. He wore a feathered red hat, one that looked out of place in the city, but the red skull face paint above his left eye tells the story that he is a pirate regardless of what he wore. The man locked eyes with Korva when he approached the bar, Korva brought him into a side room that Vahl had never been in before, figuring it was where she slept. Vahl was slightly confused, but Korva is one of the most trusted and loved people in the area around the arena so most people don’t have hostile intentions, perhaps the man was just an annoying relative. After a short while the man walked out of the side room with a nasty expression on his face, but even after waiting for a few minutes Vahl did not see Korva walk out. He moved from his spot, forgetting the drink at the bar counter, rushing into the door to see Korva with a bloodied nose, cleaning the blood off a nice desk placed in the centre of the room.

“What happened?” Vahl asked her in a hurry, confused as he had never seen anyone hate Korva so much to hit her like that.

Korva chuckled at the worried tone in his voice, “He wanted to buy the bar & arena, but I refused so he got a little angry.”

Vahl tilted his head, “Insulted him? You are capable of insulting people?” trying to help distract her from the pain.

Korva had never done anything mean to anyone before, at least while in front of Vahl, she had always been a very kind woman who couldn’t harm a fly.

“He called my bar a pile of useless shit.”

That made sense to Vahl, he also knew her as someone who was proud of the work she had done, she had worked for so long on this planet to make everybody who walked through the door happy even though the rest of the city is in such a terrible condition, she still managed to do it.

“Will the pirate come back again?”

Korva thought for a second, “Probably, I don’t really have the money or influence to deal with them permanently.”

“Well, what can I do then? I owe you a lot, tell me how I can help you.”

Korva shook her head, “You could have helped me long ago if you had just found a damn fighting partner.”

Korva got up and threw out the cloth she used to stop her nosebleed and looked toward Vahl, who had a guilty look on his face, feeling partly responsible for what happened. Korva felt bad about speaking to him like that and making him feel that way, however, she felt it was needed if he was finally going to start looking for another friend other than herself.

Vahl silently headed back into the main room, the familiar environment cleared his mind. Vahl scanned the people in the room, there were many fighters of different skill levels and abilities, but none of them were people Vahl knew he could trust. His eyes caught on the kasathas across the room, she was staring at him and inspecting him.

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Vahl moved through the door that led to the pit, he could feel the pitch-black eyes follow him from across the room. Vahl head through the equipment room and right into the pit, where two humans were already fighting. When Korva is not in charge and directing a fight any contracted fighter that wishes to join in and put a show on can do so, but they don’t get paid. The two humans immediately teamed up to attack Vahl, but he put them down easily, moving around their blows quickly. His body bent and evaded in ways that are odd to see for a vesk which are known to just tank hits, but he was a more flexible fighter. The two humans were quickly defeated in a fight that would humiliate them for the rest of their fighting careers. Vahl looked up at the observers of the fight, searching for the kasathas. The kasathas lady was watching him, and even taking down notes on a holopad, something not many people have on the planet. Vahl figured she must have been watching the fight closely, taking notes on how he moves and attacks, which Vahl found highly respectable for a fighter.

Vahl walked back through to the bar, preparing to get himself a drink and wait for Korva to prepare his next fight when the kasathas lady approached him with a drink already in hand. Under the cloth that covers her mouth a soft but confident and mind soothing voice came out.

“Would you like to drink and talk with me?”

Vahl looked stoic, not showing any emotion and said bluntly, “No.”

Vahl bluntly responded and stoically stood in his usual spot, pouring himself a drink, so to avoid being poisoned by anything the kasathas put inside the one she offered. The kasathas sits down beside him and offers him the drink again, which he pours out behind him.

The kasathas looked slightly offended, her brows furrowed and slightly annoyed she said, “Well no need to be so aggressive friend, I only wish to learn more about you.”

Vahl tried not to entertain her questions, “Whys that?”

The kasathas looked almost excited to explain herself, “Well, from where I come from, I never met a vesk before, I am curious about what kind of culture they have. Us kasathas are known for our love of history and culture and you look like you have an interesting one.”

Vahl contemplated talking with her but doesn’t want to trust her and tell her too much about himself, but he remembers what happened to Korva and decides to entertain the question.

He thought for a bit, trying to remember the very little he could, or at least wanted himself to remember, “Vesk originate from vesk prime, we also have vesk-2, vesk-3, vesk-4, vesk-5, vesk-6, vesk-7, and vesk-8 in our star system.”

The kasathas looked amused, but intrigued, “You guys named all your planets after yourselves? That doesn’t seem too creative.”

Vahl acknowledged, then explained, “You’re right, its not that creative but vesk are not known for being complex.”

“What kind of culture do the Vesk have?” she asked, curious.

“Umm, not much of one I suppose, Korva told me that we like fighting and war but I never grew up for long in veskarium culture to know for sure.”

“I’ve heard about that kind of thing whenever people mention the vesk. I didn’t grow up much in my own culture either, so I don’t know much about it.” She said, taking a break to think about her next question, “What about your parents? What are they like? Oh and, how old are you?”

“I am 16 years old, that’s when most vesk reach full maturity.”

Vahl did not respond to the other questions, he hated thinking about his worldly and biological origins, but he felt slight comfort in talking with someone other than Korva.

The kasathas took this silence as a sign he had felt he said enough but she didn’t feel satisfied in how much she learnt. So, she decided to share her own origin to warm him up to her.

She looked excited to start talking about herself, not for the feeling of pride, but she seemed to enjoy talking about the past and sharing knowledge “Well as for me, my name is Umana. I am a kasathas as you know and I originate from the ancestral home planet, which is known for its deserts and scorching sun. My family was one of nobility, however, as I was not the first or second born, I was sent out to search for a way to earn money or simply head somewhere to live peacefully and quiet. I found myself here after blindly hitching multiple rides on different starships.”

Vahl was suspicious, nobody has told him this much about themselves before, “Why are you telling me all this information? You shouldn’t trust somebody you only just met and even fought against.”

“I… well, there is no harm in trusting somebody, I don’t see any harm in trusting another person. Even if they were to betray your trust it is simply a reason to leave them behind for good.”

Vahl didn’t respond, mainly because he did not know how to and because Umana reminded him of what Korva said. He thought about it again, but couldn’t take it to heart, it would take more convincing if she wanted him to trust her. Umana breathed in, she really seemed to like talking despite not seeming like that type of person from afar.

“You should become more trusting in people; besides, I shared my own personal information with you so you should know I trust you. You know, I heard that most vesk are actually pretty open about their feelings with other species.”

Vahl looked aggravated, slightly annoyed that Umana was trying to guilt him into it, “Most does not include all. And besides, you are lucky to not have a bad history with trusting others.”

Almost surprised, but more worried than anything she turned to him, “Care to elaborate and share about that?”

Feeling that he shared enough, Vahl turned back into his blunt self, “Nope.”

Vahl left his seat, putting his glass down for the first time and heading toward the exit. Umana remained in her seat and wondered about what kind of life such a large man could have had so be so blunt and drink so much.

“So blunt.” she whispered to herself. She finished her drink and went to the pit to practice her skills in another fight, trying to think of a way to gain the trust of Vahl.