#ch: layla dupreti

[daughter-of-melpomene]

𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆… 𝐌𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑 𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐀 𝐃𝐔𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐈

❝ Layla Dupreti had been a ghost since she was only a small child - her family’s own little shadow girl, her father used to joke, always walking around their little house with perfectly silent steps since she was able to take steps at all. It wasn’t something she had ever consciously tried to do, though she found her skill did improve when she focused; she had just been born that way, sure-footed as a cat and with feet just as padded and quiet.

And this was a skill that certainly came in handy, with Layla and her family living the way they did. Part of a human settlement on a backwater planet too small and inconsequential for the United Federation of Planets to care about, the Dupretis grew up, and raised their children, in fear of the violent gangs that ran rampant through the settlement’s various villages and cities, grabbing power wherever they could get it and showing no mercy for anyone who stood in their way. Often whichever gang was in control of her small village at the moment would hoard goods and supplies for themselves, forcing the villagers to pay large amounts of money simply for the things they needed to survive, but with Layla’s gift for silent sneaking, she was usually able to snatch enough supplies to keep her and her family afloat, all without anyone dangerous ever discovering her thieving.

So it was not retribution for her stealing that left Layla an orphan at the tender age of fourteen. No, the way in which the young girl lost her parents was much more pointless than that - during a siege of power over the village from a larger gang, with a fearsome reputation for cruelty, the little home that Layla had lived in all her life was burnt down, her parents both slaughtered while trying to run away from the fire. She had returned home from school that day to the burnt remains of the only home she’d ever known, forced to bury her parents by herself in shallow, unmarked graves, before going straight to the nearest starship port and stowing away on it, leaving the world full of violence behind her.

From there, Layla began to advertise herself as the perfect spy and thief, renting out her skills to whomever had the funds to pay for them - often working for rival organizations at the same time, spending the majority of her days crouched in the shadows with her face obscured and her trusty twin knifes, the payment for one of her first ever jobs, strapped to her sides. Though she concealed her true name and identity very carefully - referring to herself solely as the Shadow, an agonizing reminder to herself of her father’s nickname and the pain she had run from years ago - she quickly gained a reputation as the most talented thief in the galaxy, and eventually began to be approached by bigger and more powerful organizations. Those groups paid better than any “employers” Layla had had prior to them… but they were also more dangerous, the implications of what would happen if Layla refused the work they offered more severe.

This was how Layla eventually finds herself with perhaps the least desirable job of her career: stowing away on the USS Enterprise and making off with the cargo they were carrying, which happens to be medicine the ship is ferrying to a planet like the one Layla had used to call home, tiny and poor and in desperate need of it. Layla wants perhaps nothing less than to do what has been requested of her, but the crime syndicate who makes the job offer makes it very clear what will happen if the Shadow refuses. So she grits her teeth, takes half her payment in advance, and sneaks into the Enterprise’s cargo hold when they stop to pick up the object of her thievery.

And then she gets caught.

Found and pulled from the shadows on a job for the first time in her life, Layla fully expects to be kept prisoner on the starship and hauled before a judge. She doesn’t expect James Kirk, the Enterprise’s captain, to take pity on her, and to make her an offer: she will not be reported as a thief to the Starfleet authorities, as long as she agrees to stay aboard the Enterprise and serve as a yeoman. Having spent so much of her life hidden in dark corners, Layla doesn’t exactly adore the idea of spending every day around so many people, but faced with a choice between agreeing to this deal or going to prison for the rest of her life, she would - and does - choose the former without hesitation.

Now serving as a yeoman on the ship she had previously intended to burgle, Layla finds that she has never been in an environment such as this… and she can’t quite decide if that’s a good thing or not. With the exception of the ship’s doctor, a man whose cantankerous attitude she can appreciate, and half-Vulcan first officer, everyone on the ship is so cheerful and friendly, seeming to completely forgive Layla’s past attempted offence and seek to be friends with her - especially the Enterprise’s navigation officer, who continues to throw flirtatious comments at Layla no matter how often she puts one of her knives to his throat.

Layla isn’t quite sure what to make of the direction her life has taken. But she has gone from being a nameless lost soul of a thief who spends her time crouched in the darkness to having friends who genuinely want to know the person behind her inner walls, a found family full of sun-bright souls, and potentially, a boyfriend (if Sulu can ever man up enough to ask her out properly), so she supposes it’s more positive than negative.

It would, however, be a lot better if Kirk and Spock’s escapades wouldn’t threaten them all with death every other week. ❞

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