All that glitters is not Aurum.

[Armaud Eden]

Aurum​

En route to Azar City​

Wild Space​

​

Of all the habitats that Armaud felt an unrelenting pull in regards to exploration, across vast swathes of varying planets, jungles and swamps held the greatest temptation. He couldn’t decide if it was because of the familiar nature, tying the experience back to the standard of the Ankarres Forest that grew out from the back of the homestead on Sulon. Or if it was because of the unabated growth and life, full of diversity and variety, and the undeniable allure of assimilating into something that felt so at odds with an easy way of survival.

But for him, the act of padding barefoot across the spongy floor of a forest or bog could not have come any easier.

His path always began with the simple desire for discovery, extending out from the heart of Alliance space. But when he could tie it to a task, a chore for either his uncle or his mother, that often made the trip more openly accepted. Not that he would need their permission, but he preferred to keep them happy. In this case, finding odd or unique plants for his mother that could have potential medicinal values.

The small starfighter came out of hyperspace within view of the planet. The alabaster satellite orbited on a slow tumble, nearly on the opposite face of the planet, indicating to Maud that his trajectory would land him on the planet around late morning. The timing would work nicely, as he could spend the day as he pleased, and look for trading as the sun hung low towards the evening. At least, that was the rough plan by the young man who wasn’t particularly well acquainted with prudent planning.

Calling into port control, he gave them all the various information they would need to approve access. A contingent of the Sulon Expeditionary Group, he claimed, though that wasn’t entirely true. It was a far weaker affiliation, by blood more than activity, though it tethered him strongly enough to Alliance to garner access to the jungle terrain that surrounded the main populace center, Azar City.

As orbital descent degraded and he entered atmosphere, the X-wing strafed across the orange horizon. He wasn’t intent on getting too close to the center yet, just in case his visit isn’t as welcomed as he expected. He knew very little about the city and even less so about the mysterious Je’Daii order that inhabited the land.

Immediately, he felt the tinge of something foreign. An ache that seemed to cut across the land. As if trees had pulled back from valleys and flat lands, leaving barren landscapes where harm was once committed and never seemed to fully heal. He did his best to shake the feeling free as he looked for one of these scars as a soft landing spot. Below, the ship would quickly and inadvertently disrupt a mating congregation of what appeared to be large winged reptiles. Armaud would have no idea that such an event would cause delay of reproduction for up to a decade, though he might feel the sting of missed opportunity at their sudden dispersal.

[member="Asha Hex"]​

 

[Lief]

Deep in the jungles bordering Azar City
Aurum

Standing back, Asha could only admire her handiwork.

Though in the eyes of many the hut might have appeared rugged and crude, to the young Hex girl it was a physical manifestation of the freedom and independence she had known throughout her short life. She and her Father had never had a home, they had roamed through the vast void of space, made trips down to innumerable planets for business or educational purposes, but never had they remained long enough to make their mark. Even Korriban held no home, despite how many times they had ended up there.

Risen from the level of the underbrush, to keep it from the worst of the floods which would come during the rainy season, the structure she had spent countless hours constructing by hand - and at times the Force - finally seemed complete. It consisted of three parts, living quarters, sleeping quarters, and a workshop. Just the basics, yet everything Asha could possibly need.

Even as she stood there, though, she noticed a flaw in its design. A small garden which had just begun to sprout vegetation had already attracted the attentions of some of the native wildlife. They were crouched there, bold and brazen without a care in the world, munching on the greens she had hoped to make into a salad, a small reward for all of her hard work. Pesky little buggers...

With a small sigh she stepped toward them, and crouched down at a safe distance. She was content to watch them for a moment, they reminded her of Kushiban although she could tell without any sort of prying that they were lacking sentience. Still, the Jedi would preach that their lives were sacred. All life was sacred, no? She supposed she believed the same. Waiting until they'd had their fill, she turned from the patch and began to gather up sticks and long vines which were hanging down from the trees. Sturdy, yet flexible enough to weave... Sure it would be a very simply fence, but if it did its job then that was all that mattered.

Once the fuzzy creatures were gone, Asha set about knocking the stake-like sticks into the earth, forming a perimeter.

Seemed as though her work was not quite finished.

[member="Armaud Eden"]

 

[Armaud Eden]

Touching down...​

​

The limbs of broad-leaved and evergreen trees fluttered beneath the ever approaching force of the starfighters thrusters. Even with the barren scar of his approach, the perimeter waved violently in response to his slow descent. As the landing gears ejected lazily from the belly, the feet pressed out and clamped to the dry soil. Lowering the engine power gradually, the hum of the starfighter died and was swiftly taken over by the sounds of the forest.

Such a thing was muted until he pressed open the lid, letting the air and sun into the cockpit. Birds chirping, reptiles croaking, the ever occasional bug that moved across the ribbons of sunlight between meandering clouds. Stepping out of the vessel, he descended the stairs and made his way to the cargo hold.

It was a cursory grouping of items that found themselves either in his hand or clinging to his body in some form. A staff, innards of which contained an unstrung bow, a hatchet that rested on his belt, a stout dagger across the small of his back, and a quiver of attuned arrows across his back. His clothing was primitive and composed of canvas or animal skin, draped in a fashion that seemed to resemble the versatile robes of the Jedi Order. Against his belt, the laces of two low-top moccasins were tied together and dangled against his hip.

Stepping out, barefoot, he moved from the scorched earth of the scar to the inner region of the first forest. In the distance, he spotted the spires of Azar City - like sterile and futuristic towers to a modern city, it felt at odds with the rest of the more naturalized scene. But he noted it and the direction in reference to a relatively large and unique needle-leaved tree, standing far above the rest of the forest. Such a point would play a fulcrum for not only positioning himself in pursuit of the city trade areas, but also returning to his ship when needed.

Poking around with the staff, he took a deep breath and with a smile, trudged into the moist woods surrounding Azar City - ignorant to the beasts around him, except for what information the force gave him. In this place, he was sure it would guide him.

[member="Asha Hex"]​

 

[Lief]

It would have been so much easier to use a different material, any other material, to build the fence.

The vines she had chosen were fickle. Some were laden with rot which seeped in from the nearby scar, others brittle and more likely to snap... Finding the malleable ones proved somewhat difficult, and weaving them between the stakes took an extortionate amount of time. Thankfully once the first row was complete it became a swifter yet just as monotonous task to replicate.

At some point Azrael had joined her in the dirt-filled garden. Lazy as ever, the ginger ball of fluff curled up at her side and took a lazy nap in the sun which had broken through the trees; the area she had chosen provided just the right amount of sunlight on the garden itself that the crops would not struggle to grow, of course it helped that she had purposely chosen those which would grow quickly in the climate. There were benefits to a more tropical landscape, after all.

When the Kushiban lookalikes returned Azrael was quick to give chase, scaring them off though it pained her to watch it. He wasn't aggressive, he did not actually harm them, and soon enough he was back at her side. It wasn't as though they were lacking in food, though, the jungles were lush. A herbivores paradise.

The area she had claimed within the jungle surrounding Azar City was meant to be an escape. Somewhere that she could go in order to escape the hectic lifestyle she led these days, where technology was limited, and most of what she had and used was created by her own hand. One day, perhaps she could claim that it all was. But she was still new to it, learning, every day provided fresh experiences.

Her belt held only two objects: a commlink, and one of her lightsabers. The prior was incase of an emergency, to be used if the Je'daii were in peril or something similar. The saber... That was honestly more of a meditation anchor than anything else. Asha wasn't one for violence, in fact she avoided it at all cost. Nor was she about to forsake the whole meaning of this place by utilizing it to hack down trees or branches. No, her connection to it provided her with the perfect peace of mind though, a focus.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Though her day had been filled with weaving vines, she'd be lying if she said it wasn't a peaceful pastime. Like Azrael, she seemed to bask in the morning sunlight.

[member="Armaud Eden"]

 

[Armaud Eden]

It was, for him, the most enjoyable aspect of exploration. Getting acquainted. Learning the sounds and the smells and sights, growing accustomed to the culture that was hidden away within the random rows of trees and footpaths. The way bark felt when he touched it, the way the leaves crinkled beneath his toes, the way a field mouse scurried out from the debris to avoid his steps.

Withdrawing his hatchet, he approached a small sapling. Pressing fingers against the flesh, he slashed three shallow grooves across the trunk. Witness marks, not uncommon for parcel identification, would help to inform him where he had been. And, once more, would help him find his way back to his ship. The metal of the hatchet head clanked as he slid it back through the belt ring, padding back through the woods.

The pouch against his hip, hanging from his shoulder, was steadily growing more and more plump with every step. A random flower withdrawn from the soil, a patch of moss pulled from a stump, or the occasional tuft of grass pulled from sun stricken earth. In one particular spot, he stopped to gaze upon the sky that was visible through a break in the upper canopy. The clouds moved across the sun's influence, forming a motley against his face that might have depicted the topography of some distant land.

Tropical as it might have been, this place could have passed for heavenly.

Just as he moved to continue his journey, he felt the pressure of his pouch leave his shoulder. Moving to grip the pouch, he realized it was gone. Above, a monkey-lizard held it within its grip. The sounds were not so pleasant anymore, far from it. A shrill laugh escaped it's beak as it jumped from branch to branch, sending woody debris to the forest floor.

"HEY!"

Maud yelps as he took off running at full speed. "Gimme that back!" He screamed again. The rebuttal was a guttural laugh from the lizard as it made another jump. Dodging trees and stumps and bushes, Maud was so entranced by his sudden pursuit that he didn't even notice the hut and workshop that he passed. It was all a blur as he thought about the various plants he had collected.

He wasn't big on killing or death, but this Monkey-Lizard might be asking for it.

[member="Asha Hex"]​

 

[Lief]

For the second time that day, Asha Hex stood back and glanced over her handiwork.

There wasn't much to be seen, two layers of woven vines making up the very bottom rungs of a makeshift fence. Still, it didn't help to get a fresh perspective, make sure it seemed sturdy, that the stakes which had been driven into the soil seemed well cemented. It encircled the entire garden, so that was a plus. A very small smile pulled at her lips, a thin sheen of sweat building upon her brow as the sun continued its ascent across the sky. Pretty soon it would be time for lunch, at the very least she probably ought to get the kettle going.

"C'mon, fluff," she said endearingly to little Azrael, tipping her head in the direction of the hut though the funny little thing barely understood her. A soft mew rose from him, and his head tilted softly to one side. "Time for food, silly," and as if right on cue her stomach grumbled. Well, there was one word among them that he understood and swift as a river the ginger ball of fuzz was up from his sunspot and headed toward the living space.

Asha made to follow when a wholly unexpected noise graced her hearing. She had purposefully made the hut far enough from the City that even the youngsters who enjoyed making dens in the first few yards of the jungle would not be heard. It was rare that any came this far, except perhaps some of the more adventurous Je'daii or those looking for the Sanctuary - which was actually on the other side of the City's perimeter, but it was an honest mistake - so her interest was well and truly piqued.

Turning, as her foot reached the beginning of a porch, she raised one brow and witnessed quite the odd sight. A man clothed in natural fibers and skins bolted across the yard at the back of the hut, shouting angrily up into one of the treetops where a monkey lizard of all things seemed to be leading him on, jumping from branch to branch in its haste to escape with whatever bounty it had derived from the poor soul.

"Change of plans," she said, with a sigh that feigned upset yet truthfully Asha was always down for a bit of an adventure, "Stay here, Azrael, try not to eat me out of house and home."

With that she hurried across the grassy undergrowth, feet bare as they had been while she toiled on making the fence. She had learned just as quickly how pesky the little buggers could be, but it had keyed her in on a few of their habits.

Including where they typically congregated.

She knew she wasn't going to easily catch up with the stranger, he'd already gone past the hut by the time she noticed him, but she had the advantage of not yet being worn out.

"Need a hand?" she called out, keeping her senses locked upon the fleeing creature in the trees.

[member="Armaud Eden"]

 

[Armaud Eden]

In the normalized noise of the woods, it became painfully obvious when the steps of two feet became four. Ducking beneath the branch, he turned his head just in time to catch a flash of red and green and the shrinking abode of stacked wood in the distance. Nearly tripping over a root, he caught himself and stumbled before regaining his balance and continuing his fast pace through the thinning understory.

"Nope!" He responded through panting breath, doing his best to keep from losing his staff in the sprint through the woods. "I've got all the hands I started with."

Coming to a sliding stop across moist detritus, verdant gaze shifted upwards as he realized there was more than one monkey-lizard and they were all gleefully taking part in the escapade. He could feel their amusement, coursing through the sky like roots that were seeking out his anger for sustenance. Such things would leave without finding purchase, he was merely inconvenienced.

After all, they were simply plants.

Searching gaze tumbled from the trees to the woman whom he seemed to have surprisingly collected like a beggars tick in a field of hay. "They're circling around."

He switched the staff to his right hand and pulled the hatchet from the silver belt ring. Leveling his forward hand, he closed his eyes as he readied the weapon. "There." Leaning back, he launched it through the sky. Whistling and twirling, it struck against the branch of a large pine - nearly cleaving the limb off. For all observing, it may have seemed as if he had missed. Until...

A thump echoed nearby, followed by the painful shriek from the monkey-lizard. It had the misfortune of using that very same branch as leverage for its next jump, which seemed to have given out beneath the force of the leap.

[member="Asha Hex"]​

 

[Lief]

Was that a joke?

Running through a jungle, chasing after mischievous monkey lizards, and this stranger dressed in oddities found the time to crack a joke? That had to be a first. Shaking her head, as she finally came close to catching up with him, Asha looked back toward the treetops and watched as yet more of the little buggers converged.

"You want to be careful when they huddle close like that," she warned, already beginning to feel herself become rather breathless. Seemed as though he'd noticed it too, as he ground to a halt. In response she paused a few feet from him, not only curious to see how things turned out but also ready to lend a hand if at all possible.

Figuratively speaking, of course.

She watched as a hatchet was pulled from his belt, such a primitive tool she had not seen before beginning her own project out here. Lining up for a throw as the chittering beasts stopped to gawp and laugh overhead, it didn't take him too long to loose the thing in the direction of the fiend with his pouch.

Asha winced. Though they were pains to be sure, sticking their nose in on her business and running off with supplies any chance they got, she never wished any harm on them. As such when the hatchet seemingly missed its mark she let out a tiny sigh of relief.

It was, of course, short lived. Moments later a thud sounded through the underbrush as both branch and beast slumped against the ground.

"Nice shot," she muttered, raising one brow in genuine surprise at how well that had gone, "Hope the little bugger isn't too hurt..."

Seemed as though he hadn't needed her after all.

[member="Armaud Eden"]

 

[Armaud Eden]

He appreciated the insight towards the monkey-lizards group dynamic. That was one of the main reasons for his persistent departure from Sulon - to further his knowledge of flora and fauna. His intent was fortuitously tied to their behavior as his entire plan simply revolved around getting his blasted bag back.

"Nice shot...you mean lucky..." He smirked as he looked at her. "I did have my eyes closed, after all." He gripped his staff with two hands and smacked it hard against the tree as he walked past the shorter women. "I don't think it's hurt. Sounds more like barking than yelping to me. But I'm no expert..."

​Rounding the corner, he preemptively lifted up his hands and ran towards where the limb had fallen. Screaming loudly, he waved his hands and came to a grounding halt. The monkey-lizard was gone and where it landed, the debris of the tree limb and the canvas messenger bag laid restfully. He kicked at the ground, pushing leaves around, as he revealed the hatchet. "Ah, there you are..." Kneeling down, he lifted it and slid it back through the metal belt ring.

He grabbed the bag as well before standing, dropped the hood as he looked upward. Thick rows of strawberry blonde dreads fell across his back as he searched around. Then his hands found something across the strap - the thing had been chewed through by the monkey-lizard. Verdant gaze shifted down as he thumbed the break in the material, scratching his forehead with the end of the staff. "Uhhh..." He looked over to the woman, just now taking in some of her physical features. The flash of red during the run made sense.

"Thank you for your help. Do you...uhhh...have any needle and thread, by chance?" It was a long shot. But so was that hatchet throw. Might as well ride the wave, he thought.

[member="Asha Hex"]​

 

[Lief]

"Lucky..."

She mulled over that word for a moment, so many people in the Galaxy refused to believe in the concept of luck that his use of it had her momentarily perplexed, in a sense it was humbling not to be in the presence of someone who believed themselves flawless. With an odd smile she gave a nod and offered a shrug.

"I suppose luck had something to do with it, though it certainly looked as though you'd practiced that."

As he walked past her she glanced through the trees toward where the creature had fallen and followed after him. She listened out for the sound of the monkey lizard, but at this point it was long gone; in its place the satchel remained, and a little extra rummaging on the part of the stranger unveiled the hatchet.

The satchel, it turned out, had been broken.

"I didn't do much of anything," she informed him with a shrug, before gesturing for him to follow her back toward the hut. "Come with me, I'm sure I have some back at my hut. Have you eaten? I was just about to make lunch."

She began to head back in the direction they had come from, though her steps were ever so slightly hesitant to ensure he was following.

[member="Armaud Eden"]

 

[Armaud Eden]

"Practice throwing hatchets at monkey lizards?" He facially shrugged as his hand felt at the iron ring, the iron hatchet and the wood that descended the handle. "We don't have a lot of those to aim at...back home." He smiled as his hand trailed from his hip to the bird nest of dreadlocks that rested on his head.

He did practice his throws. More often then he cared to admit, either in this context or in the context of discerning whether he had obsessive compulsive tendencies. But not at monkey lizards...that seemed inhumane to him at the time.

"Luck's not so bad, huh?" He stepped up next to her as they walked. He fiddled with the satchel, holding the bag by his hip while the loose end hung over his shoulder. He thought that maybe if he just kept messing with it, he could conjure it's repair out of thin air. Practice made perfect, this was obviously no different. Obviously.

The air was thick with an overhanging scent of evergreen, a mixture of pine needles pushed into something seemingly natural and pleasing. While he experienced the same on Sulon, it didn't have anything closely resembling moisture. He'd have to put his beak right on a condenser pylon to get this sort of humidity and even then, it wouldn't last all too long. He wasn't one for standing still, not when he didn't have a task at hand.

"I've eaten, yes. Not recently but...in the past. Yes. Lunch sounds good." He coupled his hands behind his back as he looked around for the hut he had spotted running through the woods. Had to be hers, it was the only one he had seen in miles.

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

The way in which this individual took everything so literal was both dumbfounding and humbling at the same time. She could not help but chuckle, shaking her head moments later.

"Not at Monkey-Lizards in particular, no, but at something."

Soon enough they were headed back along the trail they had previously been running through. Had Asha not been around this place for weeks now she likely would have gotten lost, but her sense of direction was pretty good and thankfully the trio of huts were soon visible through the trees and underbrush. One of them had smoke billowing from a crude chimney, little more than a hole in the roof to be fair, which hopefully meant that the tea she had set on the stove earlier was ready.

"What do you usually eat?" she asked, for some reason she got the feeling he wasn't used to the more processed and refined foods of the greater Galaxy, which was good given that right now she only had what she grew or hunted (of course the growing part was minimal right now, though there were greenhouses back near the City which were bountiful and currently stocked her pantry).

When they finally came upon the buildings she headed up the steps and onto the deck of the main living shack, hearing the mewling of baby Azrael down by her feet. Likely perturbed that he'd had to wait this long for food after being promised his own lunch.

"I know, bug," she murmured, reaching down to scoop the kitten into her arms "I'm hungry too." Moments later she was inside the significantly cooler hut, rummaging through one of the storage drawers in search of a needle and thread. Most would see such as redundant in a Galaxy such as theirs, but Asha had always enjoyed doing things for herself. Besides, why throw out torn clothes when you could mend them?

She wasn't made of money.

"Aha, here you go," she said, offering him out the thicker needle and stronger thread that she kept. After all, the satchel likely needed something a bit sturdier than your standard lest they wanted broken needles on their hands.

[member="Armaud Eden"]

 

[Armaud Eden]

It was the truth of the matter, he had had a good deal of experience with hunting in various forms or another. If there was one thing his uncle had taught him, beyond various Jedi-esque matters, it was the importance of being self-sustainable.

Following close behind her, he kept a quiet temperament as his emerald gaze shifted from one tree to the next. He didn't know these species, not particularly, but he could make out their various families. A birch tree, an evergreen that had the appearance of stumpy and crow nested pine, and a particularly odd sapling that seemed to be stunted at breast height throughout the lower canopy. He decided that it was a beautiful place. And his opinion didn't change as they came upon the area where he assumed this woman lived.

"Mostly nuts and vegetables..." He stated, somewhat absentmindedly, as he admired the setup of the hut and the softly billowing chimney. "And anything that I hunt, myself." He obviously had hangups about food, particularly in consuming things without knowing their origin or how they were handled. He would rather consume life that had actually lived, had actually been treated fairly. The same could be said of his clothing, largely of his own production or oversight.

As they moved into the hut, he gave the little kitten quiet consideration. The hungry growl of the stomach, the murmuring, these were universal tones. Leaning against a door frame, he watched as she rummaged about, focus sporadic between her movement and the way the hut was constructed.

As she offered him the needle and thread, he hardly gave an expression of recognition or appreciation. "Your home is wonderful...this is your home, right?" Equal parts jealousy and admiration, he shifted to meet her gaze as he curled his fingers around the thread and needle. "This should do nicely, thank you."

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

Nuts, vegetables, and self-caught game.

Things she didn't necessarily have in abundance, yet she had taken to utilizing the same sentiment as much as possible since deciding to settle down here. Aurum had a vast array of wildlife, their various calls rang throughout the day, but she'd be lying if she tried to claim she was the best at hunting. She was coming along decently enough, but for a girl who had lived most of her life relying on a synthesizer or whatever fresh produce they were able to pick up for the ship it had been a bit of a struggle to come to terms with.

"I made some bread this morning," she said, "and there's some stew left over from last night. Do you drink tea?"

Settling the needle and thread into his hands, she ventured over toward the makeshift stove top and took the boiling kettle off the heat. In no time at all she had two cups filled to the brim with piping hot tea, though if he chose not to drink it she wouldn't mind. It meant more for her, after all.

As she set about heating up the stew, and looked back at him with a small nod.

"It's not much, and I lost a couple before I figured out the best way of keeping out the rain, but it's the only home I've known that wasn't a ship. Built it myself." As if that wasn't obvious, it was rather crude after all. But it was home, and she would grow into it. "You're more than welcome, I hope the monkey-lizard didn't do too much damage."

It was at that exact moment that she realized how rude she had been, inviting someone into her home without first providing them with her name. [member="Jericho"] had raised her better than that.

"My name is Asha, by the way, and this world you've stumbled upon is Aurum."

He wasn't from here, she could tell, the way he had looked at his surroundings on the walk to her hut had proven as much.

[member="Armaud Eden"]

 

[Armaud Eden]

"Homemade bread and stew...as if you know me." He made himself at home quicker than most would, finding a seat as his brow furrowed in concentration. His family were big into cooking but it was often built upon a trading system in Sulon, bartering for the best price. Though he often felt that the activity was more taken on as a form of building social networks. While some played cards or went out for dinner, the inhabitants of Baron's Hed bartered. Maud had to admit that he enjoyed it. But none of that matter for the task at hand.

Threading a needle.

Several tries passed as he chewed on a pine nut, pulled from a belt pouch, before his brow lifted in remembrance of a trick. He pressed the needle down upon the thread, perpendicular, and began to roll it back and forth until the thread looped into the eyelet. Smiling with a sigh of relief, he pulled the loop through and nodded. "I do drink tea, yes. Thank you." He responded after she was already done prepping the drinks, looking towards the steaming drink and then up to the roof. He facially shrugged, holding a hand over the hot tea. "You built this yourself despite living for so long in a ship, that's impressive."

He didn't hold technology in high regard. It had it's place, such as saving lives when they needed to be saved. But beyond that, he felt people had lostthe life skills that many had in a time long passed. Everything was so easy that he often found it hard to muster motivation do anything. Except this.

"Aurum...gold." He muttered as he began a slow stitch, stopping as she introduced herself. Setting the needle down, he stood as he approached. Wiping his hand off on the hide of his pants, he smiled. "Asha. It's a pleasure. I'm Armaud. Or Maud..." He tilted, shrugging somewhat subtly as he grinned. "Or Mud. I haven't found a preference."

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Armaud Eden]

-double post-

 

[Lief]

She couldn't help but smirk at his comment.

Whenever Jericho and she stopped off for supplies in her youth she had always been forced to think up ways to use up all of the perishables before they went bad. While her Papa preferred it when they had meals with rice and such, Asha discovered that stews were the best way to use up the remnants of a pantry. They were hearty, warm, and stored pretty well... And they could be made with pretty much anything at all. While they hadn't ever really needed to cook, given the conveniences afforded to them within the Galaxy, she had been doing so for as long as she could remember all the same.

Perhaps it was a byproduct of wanting to make her Papa happy, after all he had always been a little colder than most even if their relationship worked for them. She had always felt proud after setting down a meal she'd prepared, and if they had guests then all the more reason to. Tea had been another component to all of that, something they truly connected over had been Asha's little 'rituals' where the drink was concerned. Suffice to say if you were offered a cup you were temporarily under her protection, not that she'd ever openly state as much.

The tea, he might notice, was everything he could possibly want out of a cup of it. Her blend was special, crafted over the years of her life and painstakingly imbued through the Force for many months, it adapted to the drinker's preferences, making most feel warm and content while the flavour altered from person to person. It was her hopes that one day she'd carry out her Vur Tepe trial to imbue the teapot itself, but that was a lofty plan which would not be enacted for quite some time... If at all. Most imbue metal, not clay.

"I did a lot of research," she told him, "and as I say, trial and error. I had it on lower ground initially, but when the rainstorm came it washed away. It's been a frustrating process, but well worth it. There's a City a few miles away, but I've always felt out of place among such busy areas. I'm so used to it being just my Papa and I, I suppose." And her time on the Durasteel Graveyard had not helped one bit, the isolation she'd suffered during that time still stuck with her.

"It's lovely to meet you, Armaud, even if the pesky natives had to be the cause."

She had watched his method of threading the needle and was honestly surprised nobody had ever thought to inform her of that trick before. Made a lot more sense than painstakingly struggling, one eye closed, to get it through the eye. Always made her happy to find something else she could try in the future.

While she waited for the stew to heat up she brought the covered loaf over to the table and set down, surprised to find it was still somewhat warm. They may as well slice it in the meantime, she always enjoyed it most when it was still warm and had the butter melting.

[member="Armaud Eden"]

 

[Armaud Eden]

He took a sip of the tea, a noise of contentment escaping somewhere between his nose and his mouth. It might have been warm and balmy outside, but the tea had a way of soothing. He perceived hints of mint in there, pulled straight from some nearby bottomland. He found himself imagining a plume of ginger hair, bouncing from tussock to tussock.

Taking a seat at table where the bread was placed and the stew would soon live, he propped up the latch strap of the satchel on his thigh. If he were being honest, which he always was, he would admit that his seamstress abilities paled in comparison to his monkey-lizard-hatchet-tossing skills. But there was comfort in knowing the simplicity of leather stitching. It often could be crude, if hidden on the inside, or in the case of functionality - he wasn't entirely concerned with how it looked. A binding line with cross-stitch patterns would do. So he began, listening to Asha speak of her trial by fire.

Ash. Fire.

"I find that's my preferred method of learning. If you teach yourself, fail repeatedly, you can learn a great deal..." He looked up from the rip in the leather, smiling softly. The scar over the left side of his face would speak volumes to that philosophy. Ambition and recklessness was easily repaired with a bit of humility from the cliff face. Though he imagined it didn't stick for long. And he was happy to run headlong into failure once more. "Oh we would have likely met even without them..." He pulled the needle and thread through, tapping his right nostril with the metal needle. "I have a habit of following my nose. Hard to miss a warm fire in the woods."

Upon remembering the mention of the city, his head lowered and he nodded, continuing to stitch. "Azar City was my original intent. But I figured a nice walk through the woods, en route, couldn't hurt."

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

"Almost everything I know has been self-taught," she stated with sincerity as she set about slicing off a few hefty chunks of bread. She checked its crumb and found it... satisfactory. Not her best, but delicious all the same she had no doubt. No doubt due to the fact she rushed herself out of the hut and into the garden that morning, though there hadn't been any reason to hurry the proofing period. Lesson learned.

From cooking, and brewing, to less documented aspects of the Force, [member="Jericho"] had encouraged her independence from a very early age, which fit his lifestyle and what became their way of life. Constantly journeying, never in one place for too long, it was not practical for her to have a tutor or, when the time came, a Master. The very fundamentals had been taught by her Papa, but after that she had done her own research, her own experiments, and some had been more successful than others.

"There have been some difficult lessons learned," Thule came to mind, though while it had led to her enslavement for a time she did not regret her attempts at helping a stranger. "But it was always worth it in the end, even if I didn't achieve what I intended to. There's something freeing about being tied to nobody and no thing." This hut, and the kitten at her feet, were likely to change that even if only a little. But this place would remain in her absence, and even if she returned to find it had been swept away in another flood... Well, then she'd have a chance to practice yet again. As for Azrael, well, the ball of fluff followed her everywhere anyway.

"Where are you from, Armaud? You don't seem like you're native to these lands."

Handing him across a piece of the bread, and pushing the butter his way shortly after, she offered him a smile.

"Don't get me wrong, Azar City is beautiful in its own way. Do you know the way? Perhaps after lunch I could bring you there. Any specific purpose in mind?"

Next came time to serve the stew. She had to reach up onto one of the higher shelves to pull down a spare bowl, she usually only had one of each thing in active use because, well, there was never anybody else here. It was steaming as she placed the two bowls down onto the table, and even the open windows did little to ease off the heat of the room. After all, it was still moderately cooler than outside.

[member="Armaud Eden"]

 

[Armaud Eden]

He listened, intently, as the needle crossed itself and upwards. Eyes moving from the thread back to the woman, it was a surprise that he hadn't poked himself several times with the business end of this repair kit. It seemed that while he may have not been all that good at it, he was practiced in the mediocre tending of hide and leather.

"Sulon..." He uttered from the side of his mouth, leaning over as he clenched the last bit of line with clamped teeth and tugged. With a rip, he set the needle and remaining thread down before delicately tightening the knot and pressing it back against the strap of leather. "A stone's throw from the former heart of the Galactic Alliance." The heart of war. The heart of the region where lightsiders went when they were looking for a fight. His thoughts drifted to the militarization of the Alliance front, how Avalore Eden had done her best to shield him and Destin from that ugly bit of business, and how Gabe had always done a decent job of teaching about war while avoiding the subject altogether. It was no surprise to Maud that when he looked in the mirror, he could never picture himself wearing the traditional robes of the Jedi Order.

The congregation at the Homestead brought him warm thoughts, even if he knew that its tie to the Alliance was tenuously tethered to the aggressiveness of the invading forces.

Taking an offered piece of the bread, he thought on his purpose here. If he had a purpose, at all, it was simply to get away. "Azar City seems..." His expression narrowed as he smiled. "Clean." It felt like its own form of wound against the land, mixed in with the burned scars that were already present. He perked up at the idea of her leading the way. "Are there any parts of the city to which you are unfamiliar?" He wasn't looking to find his way. But he'd be more than happy to have some company while he took joy in being lost.

He was struck by how good the stew smelled, his stomach groaned softly in agreement.

[member="Asha Hex"]