Human Souls are Unique and Beautiful

This would be the first full moon since Roxil had arrived. He wasn’t sure if it would be weakened spread between three moons. Actually, he wasn’t sure if Luna’s Kiss would occur here at all. What Roxil did know was that he wanted to consume vast quantities of alcohol before he found out. The wine here was atrocious and the ale was weak, there was still something Roxil hadn’t tried, he was sure Skirata would have a bottle around somewhere. He called it Tihaar, Mandalorian liquor. He hoped it would be like the people that made it, strong and searing. He found the unmarked bottle in a cabinet; the liquid was clear as water but it smelled sweet and warm.
By the time Jatne and Mereel arrived to chastise him for not signing out of the barracks he was polishing off the third bottle. The warmth was just now spreading through his body.
“Well, Buir is going to be ori’kaden”
“I wonder what you’d taste like…” Roxil hadn’t intended to say that out loud.
“Me’ven?” Mereel patted the modified Verpine shatter gun slung on his waist. “Remember that time we tested your armor…?”
“I only meant your heart’s blood, not your flesh.” He hadn’t intended to say that out loud either. ‘I mean, just your soul….”
“I prefer my soul un-tasted, ner vod.” Mereel raised his hands defensively, though he hoped Roxil was kidding.
“It’d probably taste like chewing on permacrete anyway.” Jatne gave his brother a playful shove.
“Better than your Bantha osik, brother.”
“I’m so hurt, Mer’ika. My soul would be ori’jate, better than Uj’alayi.” They seemed to think Roxil was joking, that was for the best. Still, he had so much to learn about them and often felt there wasn’t enough time to learn it. They would grow old twice as fast as any human he had known. Here, he didn’t have any of the responsibilities of a Lunar to keep him away. He had woken from a hundred-year nap only twenty years ago, so his youth would keep long enough. The easiest way to know a human was to hunt them with Flickering Star Infusion to show him their soul, but he had no intention of hurting any of them which significantly complicated things.
“Udesii, I’m not planning to hunt and kill you. Human souls are so wonderful. After so many years I’ve forgotten the pain they can endure. Is it all worth it for the joy? I don’t recall… For all the joy the human me had before he died, did he still feel the torment of his childhood? I still wake sometimes to the scent of smoke and burning flesh, the sound of screams… did the human Roxil’s love drown out the sorrow of his loss?” He always sensed a confusion in his mortal friends when he spoke about his past as though he were a different person entirely. In his mind, he was. The truth was that his exaltation had only amplified everything he already was. He had been a survivor, now he could survive anything. He had been strong, now he could break through a stone wall with ease. He had been a protector, now he had power tailored perfectly to defense. He had been a thief, now he could infiltrate nearly any location. Everything he had been, he still was but better.
Maybe it was just a comfort, believing he was a new person. He still recalled that moment; the heat of his own blood pooling under him on the ground, his blurred vision as his life faded away, and the Silver Huntress appearing before him. She told him he was dying, that nothing could save him. That was probably where his line of thinking started. She had asked him if he wanted to continue protecting the mortals of Creation, not if he wanted to live. After that moment, he may have still looked and even thought like Roxil, but he was sure he had become an entirely new being.
“Did I tell you, when I hunt a new shape I learned to taste a piece of it’s mind and soul as well? Better for mimicking the creature. Far more useful with human forms of course. You know … I don’t need to conclude the hunt by killing targets anymore…” He had a wicked grin on his face.
“I don’t like where this is going.” Mereel hadn’t shown any physical interest in Roxil, he was more interested in women. Roxil could do that of course, but he was sure Mereel would shut it down if he knew it was Roxil so Twin Faced Hero wouldn’t work. He could masquerade as one of the two female human shapes he knew, but he had promised never to lie to the Nulls so that wouldn’t work, both those shapes broke his heart anyway. Jatne hadn’t shown any interest in much of anything that didn’t consist of circuits and all manner of other intricate parts Roxil didn’t care to understand.
“Well most Lunars commit to the ritual hunt, kill their target, and consume its Heart’s Blood. You can learn a more compassionate method, that only requires your target to be unconscious. After that is when you can learn the fun method.”
“Fun? I really don’t like the way you said that.” Jatne had that skeptical expression.
“You can’t think of anything more fun than a hunt?” He swallowed another full glass of tihaar.
“We’re Mandalorians, what could be better than a hunt?” They both said as one voice, Roxil loved and hated when they did that.
“Sex! ori’buyce di’kute I’m talking about sex!”
“Nu draar.” They said as one again. There was no hesitation, just an emphatic and resounding no. He couldn’t have expected anything else. Even worse, they were ARCs; just like he was immune to the shaping of the Wyld, they were immune to pouting.
“Nu’nuhur…” Roxil sighed. “Just a little? Gedet’ye?” As he suspected, they were completely immune. “Bal’ban nu’nuhur, ner vode.”