Mountain Trek. A Room with a View.

[Taiden Keth]

Mountain Trek. A Room with a View
SJO Mission on Kashyyyk
Location: Farcrest Greenpeaks
Objective: Fun, Exploring, Finding Rare mountain flowers, Camping, Possibly Free Piggybacks tm.
OOC:

Spoiler

OOC Thread | Loose Posting Order, I’ll move it on every so many days if we stall.

The Trail​

#The scrolls of Taiden Keth entry 254
#Mountain Tops and Long Drops. Wild Flowers and Wet Boots.

Moving with his usual light-footed grace, the trail wasn’t hard work at least where they were starting. Though the path was beginning to look less used, the start had been easy. Known as Farcrest Greenpeaks, being on Kashyyyk the mountain range had a more vegetation than you’d expect for a mountain, and most of it was untouched past the start of the trail. Taiden was hoping for new flowers for their new Temple Garden on Kashyyyk, missing the old one and that single tree he use to tend on Voss. The others probably had their own reasons, but the view was beautiful up here already, stretching out across much of the multilevel forests lower half. Who knows what it'd be like at the peak, maybe they'd see across much of the higher canopy.

As well as his usual whitest whites! Taiden had packed his camping gear. Thicker silver layers atop his white robes. Warmer clothes on as they were headed into the mountains. There were trails up there, but he’d still brought a sturdy silver walking pole and thick white boots which protected the ankles during long walks or climbs. His silver backpack had a minimalist grey tent, tripled distilled water enough for three days, carefully wrapped individual meals, a brand new datapad map and of course his scrolls which he kept record of his travels on. Talking about maps!

They’d come to a fork in the road. The trail was starting to thin, it carried on upward ahead but the chances of finding rare flowers was less likely along a path. It looked really tough going on the eastward ascent, overgrown and thick bush but great for exploring. Westward was a mix of both, plant life but it had seen a handful of people walk that way. Taiden took out his datapad and had a look.

“Do we know which route to take?” His posture that of careful calculation, perking up. The sound of strange mountain birds echoing through the peak was off in the distance, a harmony all their own. All paths led to the peaks way but all were different. He’d follow whatever the others decided. Not a full Knight yet, Taiden was undergoing his trials and the Masters had told him to take a week off, as he'd been training non stop for almost two months to take them.

[member="Minch"] | [member="Noriko Ike"] | [member="Charlie"]​

 

[Charlie Nooran]

Charlie trailed behind the lead, the man was pale and had silver hair like another Jedi she knew. She had been convinced by her Master to go on this little trip. Make friends and be social, typical things for the Master to tell her. Charlie was getting better, but it was good to build comradery with her fellow padawans. The two she traveled with today were new to her, she had seen them quickly on Kashyyyk because of everything that had been happening.

Of course, there was a third to their party, the Order wouldn’t let Padawans just wander around so she gave her respect to the lone master with them. Charlie kept her pack light this time around, keeping her snacks to a minimum so she could pack her tent along with other survival things. Some extra clothing and such as well. Stopping, Charlie pulled a lollipop from her tunic and looked at the routes that were presented to her.

“Uh, you have any information on them? As much as I would like to go the route less traveled, there’s usually a reason people don’t usually travel it.” A soft chuckle and a smile as she stuck the strawberry flavored candy into her mouth. The others should have an opinion as well, she’d like to hear it before beginning to poke the leader of more information.

[member="Minch"] [member="Noriko Ike"] [member="Taiden Keth"]

 

[Minch]

[member="Charlie"] | [member="Taiden Keth"] | [member="Noriko Ike"]

“Uh, you have any information on them? As much as I would like to go the route less traveled, there’s usually a reason people don’t usually travel it.”

Minch's only reply was that of heavy breathing. The small, green fellow had to work twice or even thrice as hard to keep up with the humans and this was only the beginning stretch of easy trekking. It occurred to him that he would have to tap into the Force and learn to keep up that way. It would drain his Force reserves and leave him more unprepared in the case that the Force is needed in an emergency, but it would make for a good exercise in control, capacity and usage.

He wordlessly walked past the two a little bit and seated himself cross legged. His breathing slowed and he reached around the small pack on his back to sip water from his jug. He swallowed and grumbled with satisfaction. As he was putting his jug away, he looked down to notice a noticeably large spider crawling towards him. Although one's first instinct might have been to squash it, he simply raised a hand towards it and summoned a deterring wind.

The spider reared back from the force of the wind, tried to continue walking towards Minch, but relented and tip-toed off into the background of nature. He looked up from his little distraction and said,

"Lead to the end, all paths do. Matters not, which one we take."

 

[Noriko Ike]

[member="Taiden Keth"] [member="Minch"] [member="Charlie"]

Looking at the team... this was a strange group to go into the forests of Kashyyyk together. With a large smile on her face though she was eating one fo the spongy golden snack cakes and walking. She listened and walked using the force to guide her feet, trust within it while the skylar outfit let her survive the heat. It could be hot but the material was made for sweat and cold depending on where they went. Improving circulation to her body and the bloodflow so she could walk. The paths ahead though.... "Well if we keep going, there might be the remains of the wookiee village the One Sith attacked when they came here against the Republic. There is also the fortress that Selena, Ben and Je'gan with the Republic cleared out for the jedi but those are decently far off." She said it while looking over and seeing Minch and Charlie.. two that she didn't really know. Taiden was more by reputation and the short jedi moved her hands behind her head stretching out.

 

[Taiden Keth]

Looking at the map trying to answer [member="Charlie"]. A flat map was much harder for an Echani to make sense of than one with moving parts in 3D, static and with no story to tell. So he took his time getting an answer. The eternal padawan Kei had nicknamed Taiden, for taking his time, with everything.

“East appears overgrown, I’m not sure we’ll make steady progress through the vines. West would give us some breathtaking views. North leads to the ruined village, perhaps the Sith missed something when they came.” He replied while watching her body language to see how she reacted, so he might know more about her, the words meant little.

After that all path's did lead to the peaks, [member="Minch"] was right, Taiden was beginning to warm to him, having met him twice now. Noticing his posture was tiring, his friend's body language spoke volumes. The Echani gracefully knelt down, and turned his backpack to be forward facing. “If you could use the rest, it’d be a privilege to carry you.”

It was in Taiden’s nature to follow, not lead. Happiest being part of something. The Jedi Trials required of him to show some leadership, some balance against his nature. The son of Keth put the map away and trusted his instincts. “The old wookiee village. Perhaps it deserves us to visit it.” [member="Noriko Ike"] Deserves, and odd choice perhaps. He loved history and loved caretaking, maybe there was some small part of it left that he could return with him to the temple, alongside the flowers. His posture was part wanting to lead, part wanting to follow, conflicted over such an insignificant thing. Hestitation at making the wrong choice.

It would be the easiest path north, but still got narrower. Taiden looked down and realised he’d got the faintest speck of mud on his climbing shoes, polishing it away rapidly. The moisture on the ground making him take very careful steps as he stood up. Whatever they decided on he agreed and carried on upward. Not quite the leader that he needed to be coming out of him yet. [member="Noriko Ike"] Upwards in any direction the trails thinned, the rocks were steeper, and any direction would be slower going, with possibly slippy footing in parts. Ahead was mostly clear skies, but you could see the silver of the occasional cloud brushing against the peaks in the distance.

[member="Minch"] | [member="Noriko Ike"] | [member="Charlie"]​

 

[Charlie Nooran]

Charlie listened to the options given to her. Everything lead to the same place so the way they would go wouldn’t mean much besides what fancied them at the time. Her head tilted side to side to show her thinking through the options. She wasn’t a fan of hacking her way through growth and vines, but the idea of seeing some nice sights along with possibly checking out an abandoned village did strike her interest.

Her weight shifted as she thought. She watched as the Echani moved towards the shorter one of the group and offer a piggy back ride. A small pout showed on her face as she wished she was offered such a mode of transportation. Though, the smallest of them all deserved to have some rest for his short little legs. Finally deciding that she make a comment on their route she coughed slightly and attracted hopefully the attention of the group.

“As much as hacking and slashing through some vegetation sounds, I’m curious to see these breathtaking sights or even that abandoned town. I vote West or North. A wookie village is always a good place to start.” Shrugging, she looked towards the trails that laid ahead of them and waited for the Echani to take a lead position. She was getting anxious just standing here. Charlie was the type to move on her own, but her Master had warned her about doing that. It made her a target, an easy target for anything that wasn't her friend. So instead, she would wait for the group to decide and then move that way following [member="Taiden Keth"]

[member="Noriko Ike"] [member="Minch"]

 

[Noriko Ike]

[member="Taiden Keth"] [member="Minch"] [member="Charlie"]

Noriko was listening and she gave a nod of her head. Seeing Taiden offer Minch a piggyback ride though she was there wondering why he didn't offer it to the two girls in the group.... then she looked at Charlie and shrugged with a hand coming up to offer some of the food she produced from the thigh pack. "snack cake for energy?" She said it and the saori snack cakes with cream filling, flavored spongy cake and shaped for maximum carrying and eating potential with a wrapper that was a thin and tasty organic membrane you could eat as well. She was up for going to the village. "Rali might be around the village, she works with salvage teams to help clear debris from battles here on the planet. We've been working with her and her village for years."

 

[Minch]

[member="Noriko Ike"] | [member="Charlie"] | [member="Taiden Keth"]

*Hmmm...HMM.*

Minch was giving off that trademark throaty grumble again; this time starting off contemplative, then switching to indignation.

"Poor company, would I be, to require assistance at such an early time. The Force shall guide me...Offer a piggyback ride to you, I should be...Hmph."

And that was that.

He listened to what the others had to say as they weighed in. It seemed that the general consensus was to go to the ruined village. A subconscious stroke of fear started to well, but he instinctively wiped such a misgiving away, though his ears did twitch a little as a tell. He breathed in and he breathed out.

"Decided, then, is the village. Desolate and saddening, though no harm should come from that place now. We will find only what we bring in..."

His ear twitched again and he got to his feet, ready to move again.

 

[Taiden Keth]

[member="Minch"] Taiden’s usual reserved face almost got to a smile. Almost. You could see it was coming, but instead his posture relaxed, and his interest in eternally polishing his boot abated. Flipping his backpack around the right way again. “The offer is extended should it be needed.”

Taking a moment to sip some triple distilled water as snacks were produced. He would never know she thought it [member="Noriko Ike"], but Taiden offering a lady anything other than a nervous or more likely confused look would have been a miracle! Walking stick out and extended, he prodded the trail, unsure of his footing ahead.

Very happy that he didn’t have to decide a location alone. They moved as a group, assuming everyone came. Up the narrowing trail, a bit slippy in parts. Thanks to a certain Matsu Ike, Taiden was incredibly light on his feet, doubly so with the use of the force. Still even the spotless Echani couldn’t help but dirty the very bottom of his robes as he moved up a steep part of the path.

Pushing his stick into the earth to keep himself secure, he offered a hand up to whoever was coming up, just so they didn’t slip. The trail ahead started to wind around the mountain, mostly upwards as you’d expected, with a couple of slippy dips down. Easier going than the other routes, near the ruins you could begin to see traces of civilization. But where were those views? [member="Charlie"]. Behind them looked nice enough, but familiar. Thankfully around one particular boulder, they came to something unexpected laying in wait, a slice of adventure to be sure.

The Bridge. 100 interesting steps. Swaying lightly in the breeze.​

Taiden looked over the edge, keeping a respectable distance, peering down at the forest canopy below and admiring the view. "Interesting"

[member="Minch"] | [member="Noriko Ike"] | [member="Charlie"]​

 

[Minch]

[member="Taiden Keth"] | [member="Charlie"] | [member="Noriko Ike"]

Minch glanced at the plunging depths and then immediately turned away. He started doing some breathing exercises to maintain his composure.

"I am a leaf on the wind..." he thought to himself. He turned back, his head noticeably pointed towards the ground and not anywhere else.

"Test the stability of the rope bridge, I should. Go first, I shall."

And, without any further ado, Minch hurriedly padded across the bridge, keeping both hands up for stability as it bounced and swayed lightly from his small weight and speed.

"Leaf on the wind, leaf on the wind, leaf on the wind,..." repeated Minch to himself over and over until he was on the other side. Once there, he turned around with a smile on his face and he waited patiently for the others to join him.

"I never want to do that again," he thought.

 

[Noriko Ike]

[member="Taiden Keth"] [member="Minch"] [member="Charlie"]

Noriko was looking at them and she moved towards the bridge after Minch with a nod of her head. He was doing well, he was giving her a few ideas of what they might be able to do here... at least well her and Charlie might be ab,e to make it over. The two of them were lighter then most... well would be. "Padawan, maybe you should let Knight Taiden cary your bags across for safety..." And because the man was skiled... she gave him her small bag while starting to head over and didn't look down. Breathing calmly but she didn't pause, that would have been the real mistake same with looking down as she remembered a few of the things she had learned from working with the wookiee's themselves... that was if you stop you can fal and if you second guess yourself in the movement it isn't going to do you much good. Getting to the other side of the bridge she looked at Minch and held a fist out to him for a moment. "Nailed it."