Grounded

[Sobaan Palle]

Teth, The Silent Temple

https://youtu.be/WC5FdFlUcl0​

In the dark of night there was only silence within the temple dormitories. It was late even for the older students, and those that were awake were quietly studying in their rooms. But Sobaan was wide awake, staring at the door in his room and wondering if he should do what he was thinking about doing. It was risky and he was certain that he would get in trouble if he were caught, but didn't that mean it was worth doing? He was still quite rebellious even though he was good natured and generally well-behaved. What kid his age wasn't?

Climbing out of bed, he put on his clothes before quietly opening his door. Little green head stuck itself out as he contemplated where everyone was. Everything felt clear, so he stepped out and closed the door behind him before tip toeing through the halls, past the doors of the older students like Jyn and Kyra, and heading out of the dormitories all together. His quest required him to go where no one else had gone before, and so he walked towards the bridge and stood at the end peering over the side.

For a while he just stood there, and then he grabbed the rail and lifted himself over it, and dropped off the bridge.

He didn't fall far, landing lightly on a rock ledge. A huff of relief escaped him and he grinned as he started scaling down the cliff face with his intention clearly being to go down to the bottom and see what it was that was down there. Nobody seemed to know, and now that they were back from Bakura his curiosity was getting the better of him. Plus he wanted to discover what it was so that he could impress Jyn with his capabilities. She was like a big sister to him, so he wanted to be the little brother she could be proud of. That meant climbing down when no one could stop him.

Or so he hoped.

[member="Jyn Sol"]

 

[Lief]

Jyn had always had trouble sleeping.

The difficulty, the insomnia, peaked when she was amidst the Inquisitors of the Atrisian Empire; while [member='Tirdarius'] had tried to ease her mind, their little Order of Force Sensitive Force Hunters had cast the child she had been into grim paranoia, something which had never truly been shaken since. Most nights she would have just an hour of rest if that, several times she sneaked out from their headquarters, ventured into the surroundings jungles, and waited for dawn to break.

She couldn't really do that anymore. She had to rest, even if it was difficult, she couldn't afford to lose sleep. Yet tonight, for whatever reason, was particularly bad. As it had once been when Fuz was at her side and exploration was her only sanctuary. So she had risen, dressed, and left her chambers within the Temple to face the night.

Bakura had been beautiful, but nowhere felt quite so safe and serene as Teth to her. She had Fuz had survived here alone for so very long after the Sith Order collapsed, in fact it was one of the last safe places they had been together before... Don't think on that. It's over, in the past. Now there are kittens running riot everywhere, and children, and... Je'daii...

How had this come to be something so unexpectedly large? Okay in the grand scheme of things it was nothing. By Galactic comparison they were barely even a smudge... Yet for an Order she had thought long since dead? There was finally hope. So many had come, flocked to the Temple for guidance, and despite the Temple Masters somehow they still looked to her.

But that does not make sense. I've barely even begun my own Journey, what am I doing as the voice, the face, for this Order?

She hadn't wanted it, but it had been placed on her shoulders regardless.

Looking up from her thoughts she exhaled and felt the gentle breath of wind against her face. The Courtyard was empty, but that was to be expected. It was late, most were asleep or studying. There was no one else out h--

Jyn blinked. She could feel a rush of adrenaline from close by, confidence which masked an innate fear... And a presence which had become all too familiar for the woman.

Sobaan... What are you up to?

She had to find him...

[member="Sobaan Palle"]

 

[Sobaan Palle]

One rock.

Two rocks.

Oops. Almost slipped there. He managed to save it, though, digging his rock into a crevice that was certain to have who knew how many creepy crawly things in it. He could feel them on his hand, but they kind of tickled with all of their legs. It made him giggle a little bit and he had to fight not to pull his hand out from within so that he didn't end up falling down the canyon and splatting himself all over who knew what. Jyn was already upset with him over ditching everyone at Bakura, so he was in some hot water already. He really didn't need to be adding to that. Though he was adding to it just by doing what he was doing, so he shouldn't really have cared anyway. He was already going to be in more trouble.

But he continued down the cliff face until he reached a small ledge. It really was a long way down. Though he was certainly a good climber, it was taking forever to reach the bottom. Given the mystery of what was down there, though, he certainly wanted to discover the truth. Sitting down on the ledge with his legs dangling over, he swung them back and forth while he took a little breather. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a couple of crackers that he'd stashed away for good measure. He always did that when he was certain that Jyn wasn't looking at him. Sometimes he got hungry at night, so the crackers provided a good snack.

He started humming to himself as he sat there nomming on the cracker, unaware that his antics had drawn the attention of the big sister that was Jyn. A yawn escaped him in the middle of humming, but he just smacked his lips once or twice and went back to the cracker.

The Je'daii have the best crackers.

[member="Jyn Sol"]

 

[Lief]

Almost immediately, the Fire Lady knew what was going on. It was just an inclining she had, but from the moment it came to mind she could not doubt it to be the cause. How stupid of her to show a child such as Sobaan a treasure, some unknown anomaly within their Temple, and not expect him to run after it the first chance he got.

Bakura had terrified her; leaving the world without him had left a pit in her stomach and the fire apparent within her skin. He was reckless in his naivety... And she could not blame him for it. But he had to know his boundaries, his own limits. Scaling a rock face, which would end in death if he fell, was not wise. Not at all.

She hurried to the bridge they had been on earlier, the one which exposed the sheer drop below. All the other bridges in the Courtyard were small, they crossed only small brooks of water, but the one he had almost fallen down during the Gathering was something entirely different. And she could feel him there now, below.

Peering down, Jyn could not help but frown. She could not shout to him, and risk him falling, so instead she allowed the Force to flow through the air between them, feeling for his presence. Trying to pinpoint him. He was stationary, she realized...

"Sobaan"

She called down to him, feeling her skin once again ashen and burning.

"Child, please... Remain where you are, I'll come and get you..."

[member="Sobaan Palle"]

 

[Sobaan Palle]

He paused with a cracker half in his mouth when he heard his name spoken. He had heard it, right? And then came more words and he knew he wasn't hearing things. Apparently he hadn't been as quiet as he thought he'd been when he was sneaking out. A soft sigh escaped him and he looked at the cracker. Why should he waste it just because he was getting in trouble? He popped it into his mouth and went back to kicking his legs back and forth as he sat on the ledge. To be perfectly honest, he was rather comfortable sitting where he was. It didn't make sense to him why she was so upset that she'd nearly turned to fire just because he was down on the ledge about half way down the cliff face. Didn't she know he was a good climber?

Though she told him to stay where he was, he decided against it. Sometimes you just had to go with your gut, and sometimes you just needed to show people that you didn't need to be coddled all the time! He'd survived on Bakura just fine, after all. At least, he was in one piece when all was said and done. That was good, wasn't it? He thought so.

She was coming down to get him, but he wasn't going to be where she'd felt him. Instead, he leaned over the edge and gripped it with his hands, sliding down with his back to the wall. Once he secured a foothold, he turned himself about and started going down again. It wasn't honestly that hard for him. Even in the darkness and the mist he could tell where he was in relation to the bridge and the ground below. And he took his time. He wasn't moving so fast that he would risk getting himself hurt. If there was one thing his momma had taught him, it was that slow and steady kept you ready, but quick and reckless left you lifeless. He was a good hunter, though, and good hunters had to be cautious.

So he went down, even though Jyn was coming after him.

[member="Jyn Sol"]

 

[Lief]

He was suddenly on the move, descending the inside of the cliff face. Jyn knew she needed then and there to make a decision, and so she clambered over the edge and dropped onto the first ledge with a sharp exhale of breath.

Wincing, but still able to move, she began to climb down after him, though in comparison to Sobaan she was significantly slower. She wasn't a child anymore, she didn't have the reckless state of mind and the belief that she couldn't be hurt.

"Please..." she called down after him, "Be careful, Sobaan..."

She couldn't bear the thought of him slipping and falling into the rocky water below. He would never survive it.

[member="Sobaan Palle"]

 

[Sobaan Palle]

"One rock.... Two rock.... Three rock.... Ledge."

His voice trailed upward from him as he climbed down the cliff face. Yes, he was an obstinate child, but what could one expect? Ten years old with a mystery to solve. Plus he was certain that he could climb it alright if he took his time and was patient with the choices he made on where to grab and where not to. His mother had always told him to be patient when he was hunting because sometimes the prey could sense the impatience, or moving too soon would cause you to miss. It was no different here. The prey was each new rock that he had to reach out towards, or a ledge he needed to step down upon, or a crevice that he needed to stick his hands into for purchase.

And he knew she was climbing down after him. Fire Lady didn't much like it when he did things that put himself in danger, even though he didn't think he was in any danger. Still, he went down until he reached the base, or at least as close as he could get considering there was water and crags everywhere. With Jyn coming down after him, he figured he might be better off waiting for her before going further. So long as she didn't try and take him away now that they were this close.

"Come on, slowpoke!"

He giggled at this and then turned his eyes towards the sphere. He could make it out more clearly here, but he still didn't know what it was.

[member="Jyn Sol"]

 

[Lief]

Her skin illuminated the craggy heights of the rock face as fire spread through her veins. The pain which accompanied it was almost blinding, piercing through all sanity and rendering her a shaking mess that clung onto each stone and foothold for dear life. It was insane, this entire thing was absolutely insane, and yet she had no choice.

She could not leave him to fall to his death, she could not risk it becoming a possibility.

Down and down she moved, even after he taunted her to hurry; that was a good sign at least, if he was impatient it probably meant he was at ground level, right?

Soon she was nearing the bottom, and the rocks were becoming slippy. Her skin had quelled slightly, with the knowledge that he was safe, and her focus was returning. However, when she misplaced her foot and felt it slip out of place, her whole grip and footing faltered.

Downward she plummeted, the final few feet of the way, until her body hit cold water and sunk for a few moments.

It felt like an eternity passed before she firmly planted two feet on the base of the water and rose to stand. Sodden, freezing cold, bruised, but alive.

She looked to Sobaan, having no care for her own state, and seemed at a loss for words. Should she be angry? Grateful that he had gotten down in one piece? Proud that he scaled it so easily?

With a shaky exhale of breath, she merely shook her head.

"Do not do that again."

The sphere shone in the moonlight, twinkling where it lay within the water. It still wasn't entirely clear what it was, it seemed crystalline, almost entirely transparent... Truth be told not even Jyn knew what it was.

As the aches and pains set in, she found a ledge to sit upon and rested for a moment. It was quiet now, save for the steady lull of the surf as it met against the rocks.

What an unexpected adventure this night had turned out to be.

[member="Sobaan Palle"]

 

[Sobaan Palle]

And there she went.

SPLASH!

Fire certainly got quenched there. He busted up laughing at her as she finally stood up from the water. He laughed so hard that he nearly fell in the water himself. He would have had he not fallen. back against the ledge that she would eventually settle herself upon. She was so worried about him falling that she hadn't been careful at all, and then she was the one who fell! That was just too funny.

Even when she told him yo never do it again he couldn't stop laughing. The ridiculousness of being told not to do something by someone who had wiped out completely was just too much. He's been careful, she hadn't.

"You should be careful, Fire Lady. You don't burn so well when you're all wet!"

He lifted his hands and wiped his eyes to get rid of the tears that had formed from him laughing so much. It took him a bit, but then he looked back at the sphere as it twinkled in the water.

"It looks like the crystals up there but in a sphere. Maybe it's a special one."

[member="Jyn Sol"]