[Solved] [Bounty] Rocesty Sypester - Build 2: An Unwelcome Guest

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  Hayk approached the Ghorfa camp. A massiff sat on watch outside a tent, and it sniffed the air curiously, as if it recognized a scent, but didn't understand what it was seeing. Before Hayk got to the tent, a group of Ghorfa villagers greeted Hayk. As the village chief stepped forwards, Hayk realized that these particular Ghorfas were familiar to him. He and Naruun had worked with these guys before to help hunt a Krayt Dragon that had been relocated to Ket in the hopes that it would kill a Sarlacc that had been found on the planet. Hayk noticed that the chief still carried the same gaffi stick, even though it had been damaged during the hunt.

  Hayk used sign language to communicate with the band of friendly nomads. He greeted them.

  The Ghorfas communicated with Hayk in sign language as well. The chief started waving his arms about emphatically, and it took a moment for Hayk to catch up with what he was saying.

  'Please tell me you've come to take this man back to his people,' the chief said, gesturing to a man who may have been trying to dress like a Tusken and failed miserably. Honestly, a rebreather, welding goggles, and a bed sheet would have made a better disguise. 'If this man stays out here, he will die, if one of us doesn't kill him first.'

Hayk reassured his Ghorfa friends that he was taking the man with him, and showed them the tracking fob, which beeped slightly with proximity to the man.

  From behind the chief, one Ghorfa communicated that the man had no sense, and didn't even know how to dig for black melons. He moved his arms enthusiastically, while holding a black melon in one hand.

  Hayk turned towards his bounty, Rocesty Sypester, who looked around dumbfounded, and completely unaware of what was being said. Hayk was about to talk to him, when the chief asked Hayk through a few purposeful motions: Where is your father?

  He meant: Where is Naruun?

  Hayk felt the old wound open again from the mention of his lost friend.

  Hayk used motions to speak bitter words.

  'He has passed on.'

  The three Ghorfas standing close by let out a pained yell. These were the three that had been there on Ket. The chief assured Hayk that Naruun would be remembered, and asked how he had died.

  Hayk told him that he had died in battle on a distant world.

  Understanding Hayk's grief, and not wishing to aggrivate the feeling further, the chief asked him: 'Do you remember Ket?'

  'Yes,' Hayk replied in a simple gesture.

  'Do you still have it?'

  'Yes,' Hayk replied again.

  The chief gestured 'Good', then gestured towards a confused Sypester, who finally spoke up.

  'Do you actually understand these guys?'

  'Yes,' Hayk spoke, remembering that it obviously would do no good to gesture in sign language.

  After a moment, Hayk spoke again.

  'Rocesty Sypester, the New Republic has a bounty out for you. They want you alive, whereas everyone else wants you dead. I would probably be paid better if I turned you back over to the Hutts, but I'm feeling generous today, so I'll give you the choice: Am I bringing you in kicking or twitching?'

  'If you can get me off-world and to a New Republic prison, I guess that's the safest place I could be right now, so how about you bring me in alive? I can even throw in a little extra if you're worried about the pay-cut.'

  'That won't be necessary. My ship is in Anchorhead, and we'll have to get going back now to make it back before nightfall.'

  Hayk said farewell to his three Ghorfa friends, then turned and walked out of the village. The massiff gave a call after him, and Hayk recognized it as the same massiff he had met before. Rocesty run up after him, following Hayk quite willingly.

  'What do you think you were doing coming out here?' Hayk asked.

  'Well... I figured the if I headed west, I'd be safer out in the desert with the Tuskens than if I had gone to Mos Eisley, or Mos Espa. Like you said, a lot of people are after me.'

  'Ghorfas.' Hayk retorted.

  'What?'

  'They are called Ghorfas. And you don't know how close they were to ending your life. ...And those are the friendly ones.'

  'Wait... they were going to kill me?'

  'It's more that they were debating packing up camp and leaving you behind.'

  Meanwhile, back at the Ghorfa village, the locals were enjoying the peaceful sound of the wind blowing through the sand, and the shimmer of mirages in the distance. It had been a few long days since they had been able to enjoy these simple pleasures, and they were happy to see their guest go. Little did they know, they would soon have another guest, as a dark figure walked on the horizon, moving towards the village.