Private Indiana Jokes and The Temple of Ryloth

[Jonyna Si]

​

The trip had been one that Jonyna had been thinking about for a while now. With the formal adoption of the two, Jonyna wanted to share with Ko Vuto and Rayia Si a place she once called her own training ground. While Ko had graduated, she still wanted to allow him the chance to see this, and go through the trials of it.

Jonyna had informed the two of their destination.

Ryloth.

What was once her unofficial homebase, had only recently been the result of an attack by the Enclave. For Jonyna though, it now held a much deeper meaning.

As they came out of hyperspace, Jonyna smiled to her son and daughter. "We're here. Ryloth. You two ready for a bit of a trek?"

 

[Rayia Si]

Jonyna Si Ko Vuto

---

Ryloth. A week or two ago perhaps, Rayia would have been excited to see this planet that was so important to Jonyna. But her recent mission with Gatz had placed a dampener on her mood. Especially with how she had heard that abduction for the slave markets had been and continued to be an ongoing issue on the ground.

So it was with curious but wary eyes that Rayia peeked from the threshold of the Reaper’s boarding ramp. The nimble, clawed fingers of Rayia’s left hand scratched at the side of her neck. Faint hints of bruise splotches dissolving back into healthy pink skin were fairly visible. Bruises from where Rayia had been forced to wear a collar for the charade the mission required.

“It’s a good thing I’m used to the Savannahs back on Weik. But… I think this might be too hot even for me,” Rayia said. She could already feel the unblinking glare of the blistering desert sun tanning her skin. Trickles of perspiration seeped into her fur as she tried to cool herself off by waving her hand over her face.

 

[Ko Vuto]

​

Location: Ryloth
Tags: Jonyna Si | Rayia Si

"You’re not wrong Rayia. I had planned to switch up my wardrobe some. But I knew that my light colored and breathable robes would simply be too nice to pass up.” Ko mentioned as he walked down the boarding ramp onto the hot world. Wearing his usual robes. Being expected to go on a bit of a hike Ko was glad he went with the loose fitting clothes. He also made it a point to take with him both Jedi utility belts, both an older and new model. Although the newer one he wore across his torso like a bandoleer.

Quite some time had past for Ko since he’d last been on Ryloth. In low orbit above he faced his first real defeat at the hands of a mighty mandalorian warrior. Domina Prime , who had stolen his first lightsaber. Leaving him bacta tank bound as part of his recovery. He was also still a padawan.

Now Ko was knighted, and since his second, recent encounter with Dima, had even managed to get his old lightsaber back from her clutches. Although he still needed to give his once sleek and ergonomic hilt a bit of care and attention. The time spent as a ‘trophy’ was unkind to his lightsaber.

“How much of a trek are we talking about, Master Si?” Ko asked, regardless of his new rank. Jonyna was still his mentor. ​

​

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

"Just a bit. This isn't the trial you'll be taking today." She joked, but it was clear there was some hint of truth to that offhand remark. "You guys wanna take the speeder bikes, or walk?"

It wasn't often that Jonyna was secretive about their destination, but today was a day she hoped would stick in her adopted children's memory. A day they would meet the rest of their clan, a day where they would learn the truth of Jonyna's own training.

Tag: Rayia Si Ko Vuto

 

[Rayia Si]

Jonyna Si Ko Vuto

---

Rayia blew out a breath as she continued to try and fan away the lingering heat. Her cheeks, thoroughly inflamed, in the parching heat burned a bright pink. She looked gratefully at Ko, who had confirmed that it was indeed very hot. If the Kel-Dor was feeling the heat, one knew it was truly hot. Rayia was grateful. At least until Ko bragged about his light and breathable clothing.

“Normally, I’d tell you to bite me, but I’m too tired,” Rayia snipped, before flashing Ko a playful if wane smile to show there wasn’t any real venom there. “And while I’d be all for walking, I’ll vote for the speeders this time,” Rayia finished.

If it wasn’t so blasted hot, she might have wondered more about why Jonyna was keeping their destination from them. It was unlike her to usually keep a secret, so this next step was either supposed to be a surprise, part of this so called trial, or maybe a bit of both. Rayia knew that Jonyna had hid here a few times during the time of the Empire. “Is this your old Rebel base? Back when you were fighting stormtroopers?” She asked.

 

[Ko Vuto]

Location: Ryloth
Tags: Jonyna Si | Rayia Si

Ko laughed some at Rayia’s snippy remark. “I think I second the choice to use speeders. Suffering a heat stroke would likely cut our visit here short. Unless that’s what you planned to show us here.” Of course he didn’t believe that was the reason for Jonyna to summon them here to Ryloth. There were much better and more convenient ways to pass on knowledge about the risks of hot climates.

No it was likely to be something related to her past here. The Felacatian brought that up as well through a question. An old base back during her years as an insurgent. “Visiting a rebel base hundreds of years later? Wouldn’t that make it more akin to a world heritage site.” If it’d remained hidden all that time then it probably wasn’t the case. Ko was just trying to recognize how such a vast stretch of time might have people view uncovering such a location.​

​

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

"Speeders it is then." She chuckled, looking back into the ship. "DICE! GET THE BIKES OUTSIDE FOR ME!"

<Yes Ma'am!>

Jonyna smiled as she walked out into the heat, the top of the ship opening to reveal three Speeder Bikes ready for the three to use. "Probably for the best, one time we were here we got charged by a juvenile Doashim. Alright gang, climb on."

As Jonyna got onto her own bike, she looked to the two with a smile. "No, the rebel base we used to use is secret. If you become an investigator Ko, I might show it to you. This is...more special than that."

Tag: Rayia Si Ko Vuto

 

[Rayia Si]

Jonyna Si Ko Vuto

---

“Oh, good.” Rayia managed to say as she continued to desperately fan herself. Normally she might have hated needing to use the speeders but there was nothing for it. Rayia felt as if the sun was wringing her out to dry. As soon as Dice had the speeders unloaded, Rayia sat heavily into hers and cranked the cooling units as far as they would go. With a slight thrum that rattled through her spine, the speeder started up.

“Sweet, merciful cold.” Rayia muttered, feeling the chilly air prickling across her perspiring skin. She slumped over, letting the cool air wash over her for a moment. Her ears perked as Ko refuted her original guess. “Well, I don’t know. It seemed the thing Jonyna might know about,” Rayia said. Then, realizing how close she had come to falling into a metaphorical ant lion pit, she quickly clamped her mouth shut.

Instead, she wobbly began to balance her speeder bike. Her tail flicked with anxiety as the repulsors quietly plucked her from the ground. She hadn’t had that much time to practice on a speeder bike, and it showed. Swaying side to side, Rayia bumped into Jonyna’s bike from behind as she went to attach a cable between the two.

 

[Ko Vuto]

Location: Ryloth
Tags: Jonyna Si | Rayia Si

More special than her old rebel base? Ko imagined that that was pretty special to Jonyna so this must’ve been a pretty series. She also suggested that if he gets into an investigator specialization as a Jedi that she may share the base with him. Which could serve him as a bit of extra motivation to pursue such a career as a Knight.

Making his way over to the speeders he noticed that they had a windshield. Which he thought would be nice to block out dust and particulates. After Ko had lost his eyes he’d used speeders like this to help build up his driving and piloting skills again. Even competing in a pod race as a sort of trial by fire exercise for himself to overcome.

Settling himself on the speeder Ko activated it and revved up it’s engines some. Although he watched as Rayia seemed to have a bit of trouble with hers. She seemed to even be trying to hook a cable between her ride and Jonyna’s. He understood that she was far from tech savvy. So this might just be another symptom of that. “If you wanna hook to this bike you can too Rayia. I might be able to keep a better eye on the cable.” Ko said with a soft chuckle. Believing that his Force Sight might offer him a unique advantage at making sure it stayed secure.​

​

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

Attaching cables between the two bikes would work out fine, yeah?

At least, that was Jonyna's thought. She was sure somewhere in the Wellspring, Zash and HEP were screaming at her, but...eh, it'll be fine. "For the record, I had several bases throughout my time with the Rebels. The one I'll show Ko was just the one we used as a 'home', even if that more translated as...well, storage. Had to always be on the move back then. I need to find whatever happened to the asteroid base we had..." She spoke aloud to herself, scrunching her nose. "...and remember where it was..."

She too revved her engine, and looked to the two, letting Ko hook up his own cable. "Alright kiddos, let's rocket." It had been ages since she had quoted Zash and her myriad of phrases. With one last rev, they were off. The cables seemed to hold for now, and Jonyna was driving off memory at this point. The sands of Ryloth, the red dust of the planet, kicked up behind them as their speeders ran across the-

Jonyna paused, taking a slight detour as she spotted something. It was off in the distance, and in the direction they were headed anyways, but the two attached to her could feel the sudden shift.

Slowly, Jonyna brought them to a halt. In front of them, a large rock formation sat, with what looked like the long dried out bones of a Doashim, and a long forgotten speeder wreck, seeming to be pinning the bones to the rocks.

"...Zash you crazy son of a gun..." She lamented, snickering. "Rayia, Ko, this was one of my crew's doing. Ko, you wanna be an investigator. What do you think happened here?"

Tag: Rayia Si Ko Vuto

 

[Rayia Si]

Jonyna Si Ko Vuto

---

Whilst Rayia was unaware of the dangers of tying the two speeder-bikes together with cable, she had seen plenty of evidence back on Weik that this wasn’t the best idea. She’d been down at the docks when two boats had gotten their lines entangled. With the strong winds that day, both vessels had crushed their keels to splinters on the shore.

‘Hopefully, it will help if I just stay very still,’ Rayia thought and let Jonyna tow her along on her bike. The dunes of Ryloth slipped past, and Rayia tried not to cough as her bike was plastered with dust from Jonyna’s trail. Leaning back in her seat, Rayia swiped at her eyes with her fingers. Delicately, she removed the sand from her cheeks feeling the coarse grains grind into her fingers and the soft skin of her face.

“Wha-?” Rayia yelped as the sudden shift caused by Jonyna’s detour. She hissed as momentum nearly threw her from her seat, pressing her hard into the shoulder paneling. Wincing, Rayia rubbed at her bruised shoulder. She was about to growl at Jonyna when a scent tickled her nose. The scent of death.

Rayia’s ears snapped up as she scanned around. The evidence of what happened here was plain to see, but Rayia was more concerned about the fact that the skeleton had been picked clean. ‘Some scavengers can be very territorial. I’m not sure if Ryloth has any but we should not stick around long,’ she thought to herself. As Ko contemplated Jonyna’s question, Rayia allowed her tail to spool out from its sheath and kept a wary eye on their surroundings.

 

[Ko Vuto]

Location: Ryloth
Tags: Jonyna Si | Rayia Si

It was still a strange sensation riding speeders while blind. He wasn’t as scared or anxious as he used to be about operating vehicles as he used to be. Being able to observe his surroundings as well if not better than he could with his eyes. But being unable to read was still pretty terrible and an annoying hurdle to overcome.

Soon Jonyna seemed to drag them off to an abrupt detour. Once there she asked him a question about the scene. Perhaps testing his observational skills. “Okay, understood…” Ko remarked before getting off the speeder to get a bit closer to observe the scene and discern what had happened here.

Firstly stepping over to the skeleton and placing a clawed hand on it. It's dark horn felt quite hot under the oppressive sun. “Hmm, well Jonyna, from how it seems to me. Your old crewmate wasn’t a very safe driver, and totaled their speeder after turning this beast into roadkill.” At least that’s how it appeared to him. But he imagined that there was possibly more than meets the eye if Jonyna brought them here.

“If I were an Insurance Investigator that’s what I would probably deduce.” Ko added in a slightly joking tone from within his mask.​

​

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

That got a laugh out of her.

"Zash was never a safe driver. But, she had to deal with the beast somehow, and I was...indisposed." She let out a cough. "The thing hit us first. I got knocked out from getting thrown..." She paused, looking around. Finally, she settled on a small rocky outcrop off about a football field away. "Over there. Lucky for us, the Clones came and bailed us out. Sent Giran into a fit and nearly gave Zash a heart attack."

Tag: Ko Vuto Rayia Si

 

[Rayia Si]

Jonyna Si Ko Vuto

---

Rayia listened in silence as she stared at the wreckage of the speeder pinning the skeleton of the Doashim to the rock wall. It was fascinating in a way, to imagine what the beast might have been like in real life. And while the question was directed at Ko, Rayia had her own theories on what had actually happened here.

Rayia did nod as Ko explained his intuition. If did seem to make sense, and even drew a chuckle from Jonyna. “So this is the beast you mentioned? The one who charged you down?” Rayia asked, remembering Jonyna’s earlier statement. Somewhere deep within, the beast stirred and rattled its chains. Like a snort within its sleep, it clearly saw that as a challenge and did not enjoy the harm inflicted on Jonyna.

Whilst Ko puzzled out what happened, Rayia approached the skeleton as well. She placed her hand on the broiling bone and started to test for one that was loose. Having undergone tattoos on Cathar and immersed herself in Jonyna’s world, she wanted to return the favor. ‘Bones carry the stories of life after all. It’s fitting that Jonyna should have a piece of hers,’ Rayia thought to herself.

“Would you tell us some more about Zash then? And your stories of this world?” Rayia asked as her fingers came away with a claw that didn’t shake the rest of the skeleton when Rayia twisted it off. She was gonna carve them into the bone as a nice little gift.

 

[Ko Vuto]

Location: Ryloth
Tags: Jonyna Si | Rayia Si

Ko found Jonyna’s mention of clones to be rather peculiar. Based on his own recollection of her life that would mean that this could have occurred very, very soon after the jedi purge. Which would also mean that Jonyna had to have been remarkably young as well. But there was probably more to the story than it seemed. He could only piece together context clues for the things he understood. Like when he presumed that Giran had to have been a man well into his elder years from the things that Jonyna mentioned before they were introduced.

“I don’t really know much about Doashims. But if they’re anything like the Armadids on Nubia then I can imagine the situation was quite dire.” The blind kel dor observed as Rayia began to take some of the bones from the skeletal remains of the beast. All the while he stepped back over to his speeder. It seemed like his conclusions about what occurred weren't too accurate, at least regarding why the speeder had crashed into the Doashim.​

​

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

“Would you tell us some more about Zash then? And your stories of this world?”

“I don’t really know much about Doashims. But if they’re anything like the Armadids on Nubia then I can imagine the situation was quite dire.”

"Zash was a bit of a hothead, but she was the best pilot I've ever met." She wasn't going to tell them how she met Han Solo. Then again, she wasn't entirely sure Han was better than Zash. Neither were Anakin Skywalker after all. "We were tasked with clearing what we were told was an archeological dig on a Hutt's land. Turns out, it was an imperial search for a jedi tomb. Lucky us though, they were still using old clones as protection for...plausible deniability. No one is gonna sweat a couple dead clones I guess. And these were old farts, too. Trust me. Good guys though, saved our ass from the Doashim last minute."

Jonyna looked almost quaint telling her stories of old. There was a liveliness to her they hadn't seen before, like her crew was still with her. Suddenly, her glow faded as she motioned them to come forward.

"Come on, the tomb is just up ahead."

Tag: Rayia Si Ko Vuto

 

[Rayia Si]

Jonyna Si Ko Vuto

---

Rayia smiled as she watched Jonyna recollect the story of this place. If it was important to her mentor and now adoptive mother, it was important to her. Besides, Rayia knew how essential it was for some memories to have a voice. Otherwise they festered and turned bitter.

Turning her attention towards Jonyna, Rayia thought to ask after she had explained a bit more about the situation. “How did a Hutt come into possession of the land around the temple? Or was that just a lie?” The mention of Hutts had left a sour taste in her mouth. When she had first escaped from Weikian space, she had wound up on the foul-smelling slime-ball the Hutts called their home.

Narsh had been cruel to her, but it had taught her a few lessons before she stole away on a freighter bound for the inner core. ‘You were almost captured by Mother there, remember? If you hadn’t fled from that pirate’s custody, you probably would have been handed over before she killed him,’ Rayia thought to herself. It soured her mood somewhat and she glanced towards where Jonyna indicated the Jedi tomb awaited.

A crawling, prickly feeling wormed its way up her neck as she glanced in the tomb’s direction. Back on Weik, they would never touch a tomb like this. ‘Scratch that, we would not build a tomb like this. Only one was ever built and it stands alone,’ Rayia thought to herself, glancing towards Jonyna.

“Won’t the spirits be angry if we enter the tomb?” she asked.