Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Down Where The Rivers Meet

The Lagoon of Padawan Kesh
Ceto
Continuing on from The Higher You Are...
Somehow, along the way, they had lost the Judge and the Lord.

One moment the two men were behind them, the next it was just Asha and [member='Lothar Lundgren'] out there on the barely visible path down the mountainside. Rocks were kicked underfoot with most steps, the terrain uneven and downright slippery, yet despite that they found their way down to the base of it all the same, where spray from the various waterfalls caused a faint mist to form in the air.

Looking up toward the sky, she realized that she couldn't even see the top of the rise they had come from, never mind the structure which sat atop it. That was both unnerving and comforting, at least that was another layer of protection for the students who were to be housed there. They were Younglings, after all.

"Seems like it's just you and I, Loth," she remarked with a soft frown, before grinning at him, "Their loss, just look at this place."

Looking past him she could see the gorgeous body of water spread out, this hidden oasis of crystal clear water and rippling water tossed up by the cascades. The odd chirp of a cricket, or the singsong of birds, caught her hearing and she turned full circle for a moment to really take it all in. It even smelled fresh and vitalized.

The question was, "What do you want to do first?"
 
With Asha Hex
Ceto

The young Valkryi was utterly amazed by the beauty of this place. While he was completely captivated by the wilderness that surrounded him, he had not even noticed that the two non-Je'daii that were accompanying them had disappeared. He wondered where they could have ran off to, perhaps back to the construction site. He didn't let these thoughts consume him for long though, as his mind very quickly went back to observing the magnificent water just behind him. Lothar may miss home more often than not, but this, this is what made it all worth it.

"Their loss indeed, Asha. This place is absolutely wonderful." He glanced back up at the way from which they had ventured out. He could not even see the building being constructed, which caused a tinge of worry as he was sure that the younglings would stumble upon this place just as Asha and he had. Simple signs would eliminate the issue of missing little ones, and Lothar made a note in the back of his mind to mention this thought once it was again relevant.

Turning his head to face Asha now, the Journeyer shrugged his shoulders at the question. "It's all so breathtaking, I don't even know where to start." A smile formed at the tail end of his sentence. It was only now where Lothar smelled in the fresh air. Lothar could sense that this would not be his only trip to this paradise below Padawan Kesh. He easily saw himself coming to teach the young Je'daii with the sole purpose of sneaking off down here. He grinned with the thought, then deciding that perhaps he would take a class of the older children down here someday.

[member="Asha Hex"]
 
As they came upon the lagoon itself, Asha pulled the pack down from her shoulder and halted infront of the water. Crouching down she began to rummage through it, pulling out a flask of water, her beloved teapot, and some cups for good measure, as well as a bundle of sandwiches. She didn't say much to begin with, as she laid the objects out, not until she sat on her butt in the grass and gestured for him to do the same.

"It's roughly lunchtime anyway, Cotan is going to be upset he missed a chance at tea," she knew how much [member="Cotan Sar'andor"] enjoyed her specific blend after all, and could not help but grin at the thought of being able to tease him about it later. "But that just means there's more for us."

While she worked on getting some tea brewed, Asha cast her gaze around at their surroundings. There were so many lifeforms here that she had never seen before, perhaps even some which had never been discovered, and that got her thinking.

"After lunch, how about we go on a bug hunt?" Okay, so typically she didn't like the nasty little buggers... But if there was ever going to be a new species to discover it was likely going to be insectoid in nature. "That will give us a chance to scout out the island a little more. Who knows what else we'll find."

[member="Lothar Lundgren"]
 
Lothar was staring out at the water of the lagoon as Asha removed the pack she wore on her back. He was so mesmerized by the beauty of his surroundings that he had not even noticed what Asha was doing until she was sat down. He shifted his gaze and she motioned for him to take a seat too.

The Valkryi eyed the sandwiches as he lowered himself onto the grass. He had neglected a proper meal before they had set out on their overseeing of the construction of the Temple, and all their exploring had really created quite an appetite for the large being. "More for us. That's always good." He smirked after his remark, and his stomach grumbled almost in response. Lothar chuckled at himself, and swiped a sandwich to appease his loud belly.

Not realizing his own shame until after he had almost inhaled an entire sandwich, his companion turned back to face the Valkryi after checking out their surroundings once more. She suggested a bug hunt, to which Lothar nodded. "We might find something interesting, something new." There was bound to be a ton of insects around here that nobody really paid much attention to, and the pair could start the documentation of them.

[member="Asha Hex"]
 
Asha didn't seem even remotely bothered by the way in which Lothar scoffed down the sandwich, if anything she took it as a compliment and reached for her own. Some sort of meat, a salad vegetable, and a light sauce, it was delicious if she did say so herself and it didn't take her much longer than it had the Valkyri to finish munching on it. By that point the water for the tea was already boiling, and as she put out the small fire she had used to heat it up she gave the leaves within the pot time to steep.

"On a world as isolated as Ceto? I'm certain there has to be something new around..."

Right?

Worlds were not really limited to just one or two creatures, even if they had ones which were far more common and well known than others, and given that most of this planet was water, and inhabited by water dwellers, the chances of them running into something previously undiscovered had to be high.

Maybe looking for a new type of fish would have been easier but then if most of the sentient lifeforms existed in the water the chances of the species being found already was higher. What did Asha know?

Once the fire was doused, thankfully without making too much of a mark on the land - and Asha actually tended to keep a lot of the leftover ash for personal projects anyway - she poured them each a cup of tea and handed Lothar's across to him. Already her eyes were roaming the ground, spotting little ant-like creatures, and spiders, and even a worm or two. But it all looked like things she had seen before.

Until a sudden pop of red caught her attention, scurrying out of sight.

"Did you see that?" she asked, tone exclamatory as she continued to seek out the bug with her eyes...

[member="Lothar Lundgren"]
 
Lothar eagerly took the tea that Asha had made for them. His "Thank you." was followed almost immediately by a sip from his cup. His eyes shut as he savored the taste of the tea. It went well with the sandwich that had just dried out the Valkryi's mouth.

With his eyes closed, he had missed whatever Asha had loudly proclaimed. His eyes then opened and widened at his companion. "What was it?" He scanned the ground where Asha was looking, looking intently for whatever she had noticed.

Then, he noticed bright red running along the ground. His arm lurched foward and excitedly, he spoke, "There!" His search continued, trying to find where the little thing had gone.

[member="Asha Hex"]
 
Asha was far too preoccupied with the unexpected flash of red amidst the otherwise green backdrop of their picnic to even pay remote attention to the tea she had just poured herself. The cup had been placed to the ground, while the Journeyer eyed up the soil and narrowed her eyes in search of it.

Lothar saw it the second time, pointing toward where he had seen whatever it was venture, and as such she approached its location.

Onyx black outershell opposed the grassy edge of the lagoon, and the red upon its back and pincers was unmistakable. For a bug it was large, and honestly that creeped Asha out more than anything, yet her inquisitive nature bade her to reach out toward it anyway.

Hopefully the pesky thing wouldn't bite her.

As she took it into her hands her eyes widened, and with her free hand she grabbed one of the free - and empty - teacups from the side of her bag. The creature was carefully dropped inside, unable to scamper up the edge of the mug it provided them both with an ability to study it without the risk of being pincered.

"Some sort of beetle," she said, with awe in her tone, "I've never seen anything like it... Look at its markings!"

[member="Lothar Lundgren"]
 
Lothar never was a bug guy, to be honest. There was a lack of bugs on his home world of Midvinter, and he had never been too interested in searching them out while on Aurum. He was busy focusing on learning how to wield the force and what not, and even that was truly impressive given the mindset of his people. Surely young little Lothar would be alienated whenever he returned to his small hometown. But this bug, this bug caught his attention.

The Valkryi's eyes widened when Asha reached out towards the thing. Yes, their interest in the thing definitely meant the bug must be observed somehow, but picking it up with her hands sent a shiver of anxiety up through Lothar. Those pincers!

"It's an interesting little thing!" He exclaimed as he looked upon its markings as instructed. Interesting indeed. Lothar squinted his eyes as he checked out the creature, sparking up a question for Asha as he gazed, "So now that we've got it, how do we further investigate it? Have we got anything to write down notes or something?" After his question, he glanced around their immediate area, scanning for something to write with and to write on.

[member="Asha Hex"]
 
With the bug now safely within a teacup, and unable to escape, Asha set about further rummaging through her pack until she found a few things she had been looking for - a sheet of flimsiplast and a pen. She put them on the ground before her, before finding a second pen and handing it off to Lothar so that he too could make some notes.

"I always carry something to make notes with, though I've never really had to use them before now. He looks like some sort of beetle..."

Lowering her face down toward the bug and the cup it sat within, she began to make notes of its coloration and the strange pincers on its face. Onyx black shell, dashed through with a blood red. Not the most unique but definitely interesting in her eyes.

"Are there many bugs where you're from, Snowborn?"

[member="Lothar Lundgren"]
 
Lothar watched Asha's movements with wide eyes, very visibly curious of the creature they had found. He adjusted the way he was sitting to get a better view of the beetle. What caught the Valkryi's eye was the splash of red on its otherwise pitch black shell. Content for now, he sat back upright.

"Bugs? Ah, no. Not too many. They don't fancy the cold as much as we Valkryi do."

A smirk tailed the end of his sentence. It was true, cold weather was natural to Lothar. And it so happened that every planet he had been on since leaving Midvinter had had a warm climate. A mild irritant, and one that wouldn't interfere with his Journey. But still... Perhaps his next adventure would be scheduled on a planet more like his home.

"So what do we do with him now? Take him with us, or..."

[member="Asha Hex"]
 
Where she sat with paper and pencil in hand Asha had already begun to sketch the little guy.

She had of course handed a piece of paper and a writing implement over to [member="Lothar Lundgren"] in case he wanted to do similar. What had been a harmless picnic had apparently turned into a study session and Asha was happy - no excited - to learn all she could of the little creature.

"Must be difficult," she said to him, in between strokes of her pencil, "Being somewhere as warm as Ceto, and Aurum... Perhaps I could teach you a technique to make it easier. If... You don't know it already, of course."

Tapas was something she'd been forced to learn as a child; being born and raised in space made adjusting to climates very difficult for her at first, but given that her father had work to undertake and nobody he could trust to watch over his child she had been made to follow him regardless. From hot to cold to dry to humid, Asha had utilized the technique to its fullest in order to stop her from suffering too badly.

"I don't know what we should do with him, I kinda like him though. He should have a name."
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom