On Frozen Winds

[Nunak]

Upon the icy tundra and frozen winds of Arkania stood a lone figure, eschewed of armor in place of more practical winter clothing seemingly fashioned from leathers procured from a past hunt. In one hand the tall humanoid held a a lengthy rifle, equipped with basic optics, and in the other a sheathed blade.

Rather than join the rest of the soldiers in returning to Carida, the Cathar sought it best to spend some time getting familiar with the fauna of a world he had yet never seen. In the inhospitable wastes he waited patiently for a prospect, moving only when he felt the need.

Despite leather and fur the cold bit at his flesh and snow collected on any surface it could find. It was nothing like home, but there was no reason it had to be. This frosted planet possessed its own beauty and charm, if one was willing to appreciate it. The dark skies, ivory hills, and jagged spires were unfamiliar, but not unwelcoming.

After three hours of searching Nunak trudged towards a singular mound, plopping down next to it to rest. Using the supplies he had brought with the Cathar started a rudimentary fire with a mix of tinder, military fire tabs, and old pieces of wood he collected long before deciding to trek out into Arkania's wilderness. Tearing open a ration be poured the various chunks and powders of a 'main dish' into his canteen, giving it a couple of shakes before laying it atop the fire to cook.

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Nunak"]

Aithne was mapping the planet for her father and looking for places where outposts could be set up in close proximity to the cities on Arkania and possible locations for strong defensive positions. Such considerations were unusual for her to be sent to deal with but not entirely new. She was largely a shadow for her father ever since he had become an admiral for the Republic, acting as his hand and with his powers and the mastery of those powers.

Which is why she looked at the man trying to spark a fire from behind her snow covered cloak, raising a brow and surprised to find a Republic soldier here at the time when most were setting up their own camps and bases as had been detailed for the squads and regiments.

Her feet moved through the snow, walking towards him and soon coming into clear sight as she moved through the frozen field of white. As far as she knew, the only other ones that she expected to maybe come across were native Arkanians and the Jedi that had set up a new temple on Arkania itself, so this man was new and an oddity, one she wanted to find out more on.

"Lost your squad?" She asked simply, her eyes staring from behind the hood of the cloak she wore and waiting for a response from the lone soldier.

 

[Nunak]

The man had not been expecting company, using the cold as a time time for self-examination. Upon the approach of Aithne the Cathar examined the woman curiously before shaking his head. "No, no. Just enjoying a bit of a hunt before I am stationed elsewhere. What of yourself? What is your purpose out here in frost?"

Pushing himself to a stand he left his rifle and blade to the side, giving the woman a respectful bow of the head and the extension of a hand, before sitting back down.

The winds howled, threatening to snuff out the already meager flame. The soldier seemed unconcerned, merely continuing to stir it, creating small sparks and embers which rose and died in the skies above.

[member="Aithne Charr"]

 

[Riamah]

A plant had brought the woman here. One so rare very few knew of it, but its healing properties were in high demand. How in the world this plant grew on this frozen wasteland she didn't know, but she followed clues and hints in an attempt to find some.

She was dressed for the weather and was still cold. Cresting one of the many dunes in the area, she saw a speck of life sitting next to one not far from her. Deciding to take the risk, she openly approached this person.

He was clearly a trained trooper, just based off how he carried himself. Before she arrived though somebody else showed up. It still did not deter her from reaching out and she continued on with her approach.

It would be seen she carried weapons, but her hands were nowhere near them. Only her eyes could be seen of her features though due to the chill in the air.

[member="Nunak"] [member="Aithne Charr"]

 

[Nunak]

Spotting the other figure, the Cathar waved them over to take a seat, motioning to the fire. "Two out here, in the wastes, what a surprise. Might I inquire as to your reasons for braving the frost?" With a gloved hand he gripped the boiling canteen, pulling it close to himself as he removed the top to release the steam, before letting it chill on some ice.

Nunak shifted, looking between them intrigued.

[member=Ra'a'mah] | [member="Aithne Charr"]

 

[Mereel Vaun]

Here be dragons, or in Arkania's case, the truth may have been 'here were dragons'.

Even if the spacer legends of flying, fire-breathing reptiles inhabiting the planet's frozen wastes weren't true, previous experiences with drunk spacer stories taught Mereel that the Arkanian tundras were at the very least worth investigating. Where Seo had the call of the force, he felt the call of good spacer tales.

If Seo and him found nothing in the Arkanian tundra, he would take the L and just add another planet to his visited world list. And if they did find what he was looking for, well, they would figure something out. Force knew he had packed enough ammunition to cull a small village. Two power cell bandoliers, a tan scarf, and his red shoulder cape all swayed and fluttered with the wind as they trudged through the snowfall.

". . and that's when I respectfully told him he could shove it up - hold on. You feel that?"

Admittedly distracted, Mereel hadn't felt the three presences in the force until they were practically on top of them - only a scant few meters away in fact. He switched his rifle's firing mode to fully automatic as they approached the three new force signatures.

He eased up a little as he saw through snow enough to tell that the three people were just waiting around in a makeshift camp, and not aiming blasters at them. He reluctantly flipped on the weapon's safety as he heard the leather-clad being talking to the other two.

"Make that four in the wastes - or five, if you're counting yourself."

Mereel gave a slight nod of the helmet towards no one in particular as he nestled his rifle in the crook of his arm, pointed towards the ground. "Fellow hunters?"


[member="Nunak"] | [member="Ra'a'mah"] | [member="Seo Linn"] | [member="Aithne Charr"]

 

[Nunak]

The Cathar dipped his head towards the fourth, nodding his head. "Yes, I seek to learn of the fauna of this planet myself. What better way than to eat of its meat, and tan its hides. The hunt is its own reward, but the bounty is a treasure."

Amber eyes examined the new arrival warily, taking keen note of the assortment of bandoleers and other goods the man kept on himself. "Though, I think, you and I are hunting two different creatures. What large game do you seek?" Gripping the canteen he took a short sip, his face scrunching up due to the heat, before he took another cautious drink of what could assumed to be soup.

[member="Mereel Vaun"] | [Member=Ra'a'mah] | [member="Aithne Charr"]

 

[Seo Linn]

On Lorrd Mereel had said he would take her hunting at some point and it had now arrived. The location was not something the desert dweller was exactly comfortable with. Seo was totally out of her element here, but had joined Mereel anyway.

She listened to the story he was telling her and stopped when he asked if she felt that. Cresting yet another dune on the icy tundra, they came upon the rough camp of another traveler. A few other people had arrived as well and she looked at each of them before turning back to Mereel.

"Are you going to answer him?"

How some sort of dragon ​lived in these icy wastes, she had no idea. So far they hadn't yet found any sign of life until coming across this camp.

[member="Nunak"] [member="Mereel Vaun"] [member="Aithne Charr"]

 

[Riamah]

With the question from Nanuk as to what brought her out to Arkania, Ra would approach the camp when he motioned for her to join him.

"A plant. I heard the Arkanian scientists had recently discovered it and hoped to make some headway on learning more about it. Before the news of it spread too much further than it has."

No name had yet been given to her of the planet, only that it was native to Arkania.
​
"I am Ra'a'mah Numare, but please just call me Ra."

@Nunak​ [member="Aithne Charr"]

 

[Nunak]

Flashing a couple of fingers towards [member=Ra'a'mah] and the other to approach with Mereel. "A plant you say? I do not know much about 'em, I cannot imagine any growing on this here planet. Maybe in a cave somewhere. Is it some form of lichen," He pondered, committing to small talk for the time being as he nursed the canteen of soup.

 

[Mereel Vaun]

While she had been rather blunt with her question, Mereel thought that Seo was still handling the whole ordeal rather well. She had probably expected a normal hunting trip from him for their promised outing, but he had instead taken them on a wild mythosuar chase, and beyond that it was a wild mythosuar chase that had pulled her into the heart of a tundra.

Although it was concealed by his helmet, there was a faint shimmer in his eyes as he shrugged his shoulders and responded to Seo's question, "Don't see no harm in sharing."

He tilted his helmet to look at the man who had inquired about what they were seeking, "We're looking for dragons. Thought we would just make a quick pit stop to see if we could confirm or deny a bar story."

[member="Seo Linn"] | [member="Nunak"] | [member="Aithne Charr"]

 

[Nunak]

Nunak's visage shifted to one of confused surprise, before shaking his head and chuckling. "Well, if you're looking for dragons, I believe Tatooine has one or two. Haven't heard of one on Arkania since... Ever. Though I do not know the local lore all too well. Is your hunt aimless, or do you have a destination in mind?"

Gripping his rifle, using it as a crutch to pull himself up, he stowed away the canteen and held a hand out in the pair's direction. "If you do find one you're gonna need all of those if you intend to kill it. I'd personally leave it be, the sight alone is worth the story. But that is your business."

[member="Mereel Vaun"] | [member="Seo Linn"] | [member="Aithne Charr"]

 

[Riamah]

"Here's what little information I have on it."

It took​ Ra several seconds to pull a plastic sheet of laminated paper out of her coat, but she handed it to Nunak to take a look at. There was not much on it, but a story that talked about Arkanian scientists making the discovery recently and that it was found on Arkania in only three locations so far.

"Not sure exactly what it is. It could be lichen I suppose, but it sounds more plant in nature."

[member="Nunak"] [member="Aithne Charr"]

 

[Nunak]

Scanning the article over, he nodded. "Seems, uh, pretty vague if you ask me. Searching for something you when you have little clue as to what it is..." The Cathar handed it back to Ra'a'mah, shrugging. "We can keep our eyes out, Ra, or at least I can. Don't know about the others." Nunak rested the rifle in the crook of his arm.

[Member=Ra'a'mah]

 

[Riamah]

Taking the sheet back, Ra stuffed it back into her pocket after refolding it. It was good she had decided to bring it along. Providing that helped secure her reason for being on this ice rock.

"Thank you. Any caves nearby? Can always go spelunking I guess."

​Then again she didn't have any sort of spelunking supplies and was wandering around pretty aimlessly. Grouping up and sticking with another person was probably a good thought.

[member="Nunak"] [member="Aithne Charr"]

 

[Mereel Vaun]

Mereel sighed as the Cathar suggested Tatooine. He had hunted krayt before, once on purpose and the other time a not-so-happy accident. Krayt hunting again would definitely still be exciting, but he wanted to mix things up a little for Seo's first trip out. And having recently visited a desert planet, the allure of the fabled Arkanian dragon had proved much more enticing to him than a krayt hunt. A change of environment was always refreshing.


"Not entirely aimless, but the scent we're on is definitely not a guided path. Unsubstantiated rumors say that Arkanian dragons like keeping to caves and spooky abandoned mines. Fortunately, we're running on a little more than just rumors, Arkania has some partially complete geographical survey maps. Just general features mostly though.. hardly any caves or abandoned mine markers."

Mereel sighed again. This really was a stupid idea for a first hunting trip, but his desire to see the new and find the unknown had blinded him to that fact until him and Seo were planetside. He wouldn't apologize yet though, and he wouldn't give up until they had found and explored a few caves with no results. He was stubborn like that.

"Brought these along as much for self defense as for hunting in this case. Jury's still out on what I'll do once we find it, but I sure as hell wanted to be prepared in case it found us first."

[member="Nunak"] | [member="Seo Linn"] | [member="Aithne Charr"]

 

[Nunak]

Nodding, the Cathar reached around and gripped something from the backside of his belt. Drawing a small metal case he clicked it open, removing a cigara. Using the fire to light it, getting perhaps far too close to the head for his liking, Nunak slipped it between his teeth. "Well..." He paused. "I spotted a few caves about three klicks south of here. Didn't fancy going in them myself, plus I did not see any notable tracks. Just small, common, game. If you want to give that a look, I could guide you. Might also help with her little search as well-" The hunter motioned to [member=Ra'a'mah].

"I have a keen memory of where I was. Spires of ice reached to the skies, kind of hard to miss."

[member="Mereel Vaun"] | [member="Aithne Charr"]

 

[Riamah]

Of course she had been coming from essentially the other direction and nodded in thanks.

"Well no tracks mean there's the good chance either the plant isn't there, no dragons or it is a location for the plant that hasn't been discovered yet. I still think I should go check it out because you never know. Maybe I'll get lucky and I'll find some of this medicinal plant. Always nice to have something so few know of and that can used to help. With all the unrest that's been going on, anything extra helps."

It was supposed to be better than bacta in its healing properties.

[member="Nunak"] [member="Aithne Charr"]

 

[Aithne Charr]

Aithne had been rather silent through the whole affair thus far, keeping to herself and listening to the others.

The one thing she did remark on silently was the woman that had come along and it was someone familiar. She kept watch on her father's records and this woman was one that had found her way into them. She was someone he worked with through Alexandra, but nothing more.

Other than that, Aithne was focused on the idea of this hunt. She was looking forward to finding something interesting to hunt down and to take her mind of her original intent for being here. Perhaps she could take something as a trophy by the end of all of this, or maybe not... she would need to see how things progressed to be sure.

"Checking out these caves could prove to be interesting none the less..." She said, knowing that it could hold something interesting.

 

[Mereel Vaun]

While not as intense as the spark earlier, fire rekindled in his eyes as Mereel's mouth adopted a broad grin, "I'll gladly take you up on your offer."

As the cigara-smoking hunter motioned towards the red-haired woman, his eyes followed. Having sensed her and the other unknown woman's force sensitivity, he looked Ra over with a small amount of caution.

The only company he was ever particular about were Sith and Mandalorians. Seeing that neither of the women had hurled lightning at them upon entering the camp, and neither of them were wearing beskar'gam, Mereel let the tension ebb out of his shoulders.

After the black-haired woman spoke, he nodded his head in enthusiastic approval,"That's the spirit!"

With an overconfident smirk, he then turned his attention to Ra, "I've got sharp eyes. Show me what you're after and I'll be able to spot it from a kilometer off."

In the snowfall, it was a partial exaggeration. But if he was focused on a clear day he wasn't so sure the claim was far from the truth.

[member=Ra'a'mah] [member="Nunak"] [member="Aithne Charr"]