Jared Starchaser
"Your clan doesn't find the same summer and winter camp?"
Choli gave a sad, but understanding smile. Her hazel eyes darkening in the shift of her emotions.
"No, the desert is constantly shifting. No winter or summer camp is the same."
It was what it was. Choli made her peace with that.
"Closing a book then. I get that. It’s always better to close something down rather than leave an open end, and wonder 'what if'."
Choli gave a nod. It had been one of the many reasons as well why she had broken up with Trextan. It was better that he find his own path, figure out what he wanted to be and do, than have him always wonder if he was doing what he wanted to do, not just following Choli because he wanted to be with her. He had gone through so many emotions and issues with his father, the Jedi, the Sith, that the teenager that he was had been lost on what to do. A clean break is what had to be done to make sure Trextan didn't end up resenting her or wondering if he was really doing what he wanted to do.
With a deep breath, Choli dropped her satchel down, grabbed her lightsaber knife, and secured to her hip, then took out her hunting knife with the other. This tested her skills, hunting abilities, and physicality for the rite. She would have to utilize every bit of knowledge she had to do this. There had been no condition that Force powers were not to be utilized, and to be honest, tales told of a demon of the desert that had such powers. Could that be the one her tribe had sacrificed her to have been a Force user instead?
Ironic considering.
An exhale, then a narrowed gaze. The young woman would move forward slowly, following the tracks leading to the gulley. She had to be careful here, for the tiniest vibrations could alert her presence. If she moved like the desert did, erratic, without a pattern, then she could avoid detection. They call it sand dancing, a swing, and step and hop, not in a straight line, but in odd directions.
As she drew deeper, the polished grain of the gullies grew larger until a wide open cavern was revealed.
A scurrying of sounds could be heard, then everything was still. Too still.
It didn’t take long for the Force to cry a warning before the sand on the ground shifted as the Sand Demon went tunneling underground straight to Choli, bursting out in a splashed of sand, its claws and sharp arms swiveling back then forward to try and stab her.
It wasn’t the only one. As Choli predicted, a smaller clutch of critters came speeding forward.
Oh.
It was a nest.
A Sand Demon nest.
Things just got even more complicated.