Padawan Adventures.... They're.... Grate

[Sorel Crieff]

They’d split up since landing but now the Padawan pack was re-forming, congregating around the map. She smiled at Valae, “Don’t worry, I get distracted all the time.”

The she shook her head at Joza. She knew she wasn’t vain — at least no more than the average pretty young woman — but the pose was humorous. Far more fun than the carved tribal face that Valaehad spotted.

“The odd thing is that warnings tend to have the opposite effect on me. Like a magnet. Whatever is there has got to be worth the challenge, surely? Or is it just me.” She looked from face to face to see if the others thought this way.

[member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Orihime Ike"] [member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"] [member="Joza Perl"] [member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Zak Dymo"]

Orihime looked at the three of them and offered a grin as the idea of a warning did the same to her. She rather liked the idea of exploring it and could think of a few things. "Same for me, a warning is just an invitation to the curious and the brave." Or was it foolish? She wasn't certain of it but it might be something to see while she was looking and adding some of the information to it though as she spoke. "Maybe we'll find zak along the way... maybe." The other two who had come with them were likely fighting each other or back at the ship which meant they had the time to go exploring here. "Hmm should be able to have some stuff here and there then have lunch on this little island. The high points look like they might be able to over see what this thing is." She looked at it and if it was whatever they had on the mural she could at least get an idea if it was something dangerous.

 

[Joza Perl]

Peering closer at the map, Joza nodded at Orihime’s words after a short moment of thought. “If we can find out what that thing is without going into the water, that would probably be for the best.” She paused, a sudden thought striking her. “Um, can anyone’s lightsaber work under water?” She knew that some more aquatic species like the Nautolans often waterproofed their sabers for aqueous combat, but she hadn’t had the need to herself. “For that matter, has anyone been keeping track of Zak?” For all they knew, the youngling could have been gobbled up by the alleged sea monster by now. At least the male Padawans had stayed behind on the beach, or so Joza thought. They could be killing eachother right now, for all she knew. Men.

[member="Zak Dymo"] [member="Orihime Ike"] [member="Sorel Crieff"] [member="Valae Kitra"]

 

[Valae Heavenshield]

Was it just Valae, or was danger usually something that sent you in the opposite direction? It was turning out to be just her. She blinked a couple of times at Sorel and Orihime, she was unable to relate to them on that front... people that went looking for trouble. Oh well, Valae had never been known for her abundance of courage.

Her expression seemed to brighten when she heard Orihime mention lunch on the little island. Now, that was something she would go chasing after. She nodded enthusiastically, and she did like the idea of viewing things from on high, it would give them a chance to see what was there without being in immediate danger. And she definitely agreed with Joza when she suggested that they stay out of the water. They already knew how she felt about the ocean...

“I didn’t see Zak on my way over, I thought he was with you lot.” Valae frowned.

She hoped he was okay; the youngling had a bit of a penchant for trouble.

[member="Joza Perl"], [member="Orihime Ike"], [member="Sorel Crieff"], [member="Zak Dymo"]

 

[Zak Dymo]

Seriously, they'd been swimming and exploring and walking and more swimming all day!

The Nautolan had found a spot in the shade in which to curl up and take a nap in. Which, might sound like the lazy way out but it was actually serious training. The power of the Force Nap was not to be underestimated, for it was a powerful meditation technique.

At least, that's what he told himself whenever he fell asleep during meditation training.

Rubbing sleepily at his eyes, the boy made his way along in search of the others after he had woken up from his nap. He heard voices, and came up behind where the Valae person was saying something.

"Rawr!" the youngling belted aloud, as he pounced from out of the shadows to tackle-hug [member="Valae Kitra"].

The boy giggled like he was a little punch-drunk from having just woken up. Plus, he was still a little tired. He would probably sleep well on the flight back to Voss.

[member="Joza Perl"] | [member="Orihime Ike"] | [member="Sorel Crieff"]​

 

[Valae Heavenshield]

Valae turned at the sound of a thunderous growl, but she only had a moment to see a flash of green before she was tackle-hugged. Her mind only had a split second to be afraid, for she realized quite quickly that it was nothing to be frightened of. She laughed aloud and hugged [member="Zak Dymo"], letting him relish in his victory for a moment longer.

“Glad you found us, Zak!” She set the youngling down next to her before climbing to her feet.

She glanced down to see that her robes were covered in bits of brush and plant matter from the jungle floor. Quickly she pawed at the woolen fabric with her hands, but she had little success. With a shrug she decided to go on about her day, she didn’t mind being a bit on the messy side – little did she know that there were also leaves in her tangle of brown hair.

“Well, now that we’re all here... should we go?”

Valae’s eyes found the stone map one more time before she turned to her companions again.

[member="Joza Perl"], [member="Orihime Ike"], [member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel could not contain a loud laugh. Zak had certainly fooled her in the sea and now he’d done the same to Valae on the land.

His sense of adventure was contagious if not slightly misplaced — but they were here for exploration and fun, so it was easy to forgive him.

She turned to Valae and touched her own hair, miming removing extraneous items from it. She hoped she’d given enough of a clue without telegraphing her hint!

[member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Zak Dymo"] [member="Joza Perl"] [member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"] [member="Joza Perl"] [member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Zak Dymo"]

Orihime looked at them as she gave a nod of her head, if they could find out thing without the danger well that would be good and cool... if they could find things out though with some danger and excitement well that could be awesome as well when she was looking around. THe temple here had pathways going up above the canopy just a little bit when she was moving quickly but for them to follow. The map could render to show them, Zak could tell them all about his adventures under the sea and.... Orihime held her hand up as she was looking over the canopy at the other islands while there were some things jutting out of the water in the far distance. "THose look like massive teeth..." She was pointing but also giving them space to join her as they had a clear view of everything for miles to see all of the dotted islands as well as the remains of a large wall built into one of the islands. Water eroding sections of it away towards the mainland.

 

[Joza Perl]

The sudden appearance of Zak was unexpected, and it nearly startled Joza despite the fact that she was not the target of the young Nautolan’s ambush. Oh, well, at least he was safe and hadn’t been eaten by some sea monster. The Zeltron didn’t really know how to handle children, and was glad to let someone clear more adept at such a task—Valae—handle Zak. Of course, she noticed the leaves tangled in the other woman’s hair. Unlike Sorel’s more subtle and tactful approach, Joza slid up alongside the brunette Padawan and informed her point-blank: “Valae, you have leaves in your hair.”

Of course, she also took the initiative to invade Valae’s personal space and begin picking the plant adornments from her hair, tossing them to the side as she hummed softly. When the time came to move, she glanced over at the map where Orihime pointed out a string of islands that looked like a row of teeth. “Huh…don’t suppose we’re like, dangling above a sarlacc right now….right?”


[member="Orihime Ike"] [member="Sorel Crieff"] [member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Zak Dymo"]

 

[Valae Heavenshield]

Valae looked towards Sorel, and she only smiled at her fellow padawan – completely missing the subtle hint that she had been trying to convey. She blinked a few times when Joza announced that she had leaves in her hair, left over from her tumble on the ground. Valae’s hands reached up frantically and started to rake through the tangle of chestnut strands.

“Oh!” She laughed slightly when Joza appeared suddenly next to her. And then she felt Joza’s hands moving through her hair, picking out the bits of leaves and twigs. Of course, a bit of a rosy flush found Valae’s cheeks, but she was thankful for the help. It was very difficult to see her hair without the assistance of a mirror. She smiled her thanks to Joza as they moved back to join Orihime.

“Hmm, they do look like teeth.”

She shook away the thoughts before her imagination could completely run riot.

[member="Joza Perl"], [member="Orihime Ike"], [member="Sorel Crieff"], [member="Zak Dymo"]

 

[Zak Dymo]

Teeth?

Where!?

Short legs moved in a hurry, as the small Nautolan peeked out for himself. "Oh, astral!" the child proclaimed. This was seriously the most awesome thing he'd seen.

...today.

...in the last few seconds.

Rubbing his chin pensively, the boy contemplated the view before him. Then, most seriously, looked up at the people around him to ask, "Would you say those are more like sarlaac teeth... or rancor teeth?"

Inquiring younglings wanted to know!

[member="Valae Kitra"] | [member="Joza Perl"] | [member="Orihime Ike"] | [member="Sorel Crieff"]​

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel shook her head. Her friend the Zeltron took a far less subtle approach and in turn had a far greater success in sharing the news with Valae about her unwanted hair extensions.

But before she could comment, all eyes were on the sea and a debate began as to the nature of the rocks - and if they resembled teeth, and of so, what type of creature.

Sorel squinted - her eyesight was no better than average and from here it just looked like a row of rocks. Perhaps she lacked the imagination to see what the others did? Or maybe she was simply too pragmatic? Either way, she left the speculation to the others and addressed Zak. "An underwater rancor? Do such things exist?" If anyone knew, Zak would.

[member="Zak Dymo"] [member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Joza Perl"] [member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"] [member="Joza Perl"] [member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Zak Dymo"]

Orihime had some answers to the questions and she looked at Zak when he came running up to look at them as she spoke. "I have not been that close to a rancor to look at its teeth but Carlacc teeth are supposed to be very large when they are older. This could have all developed in its mouth over time... Felucia has an entire section of jungle that is in the same spots." She was staying at it and they could go off exploring as she was excited like Zak was wanting to see some of it. "I think we will be able to find some more information when we get closer." Orihime said it while heading out and looking at all of them seeing Joza as well as Sorel when she said it. "Well there are rancors that can fly and some that glow in the dark so why not ones that can swim around and go around." She said it with a smile though seeing a course they could jump on to take them to the beach and the other islands as she looked at Zak who was excited and she looked at him. "Come on Zak, lets go and see those teeth to check them out."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel was impressed with Orihime's knowledge. She knew of creatures she'd encountered and some that were indigenous to planets she'd visited - given she was always prepared. But the range of rancors took the young Padawan by surprise.

"I'm all for checking out the teeth. Who's to say they don't belong to some creature. Or perhaps they were placed their for a reason. To mark a creature's territory perhaps? I've seen that done before. Many civilisations worship terrible beasts and who's to say these guys didn't?"

[member="Orihime Ike"] [member="Zak Dymo"] [member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Zak Dymo]

"It's..."

The younglings imagination took hold, the abyssal black eyes widening as the boy could see the creature in his mind's eye. "It's a sarlaac rising from the sea!" the boy declared, bouncing with an arm raised triumphantly. Because statement.

He bet no one made the sarlaac floss.

Lucky sarlaac.

The stubby head-tails whipped with the turn of his head, bouncing against [member="Valae Kitra"] who was next to the boy. "Can... can we, like, explore the teeth?"

That was like the ultimate Boldly Go statement.

Sarlaac. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Padawan Cool Crew. Their five post mission, to explore strange, submerged teeth. To boldly go where no Nautolan has gone before...

 

[Valae Heavenshield]

Valae stepped up next to the others, gazing out across the water. At the mention of rancor teeth, she closed her eyes for a moment. She had seen them before on Felucia. The padawan recalled her first outing with her master and his son, and the ancient ship where they had stumbled upon the sleeping beast. A bit of rancor drool had even dripped upon her hair that day...

"They don't look like rancor teeth, trust me." She said, nodding.

She felt Zak's head-tails hit against her arm, and she looked down towards the youngling with a smile.

"Hmmm, I guess so?" She said, her eyes shifting to the others for a moment. It seemed that everyone was game. And there even seemed to be a way across to the other islands, that way she could still avoid swimming... if she had to.

[member="Zak Dymo"], [member="Sorel Crieff"], [member="Orihime Ike"], [member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"] [member="Joza Perl"] [member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Zak Dymo"]

She was looking at them and it was decided... explore the massive teeth with excitement as she gave a nod towards the pathway they could use jumping down when she was off. The wind kicing up as it looked more wushu style running on the tree tops. down towards the small connectivve section between the island that was sand barely below the water when she landed on the beach with a small look back at them before she continued forward. The massive jungle was there arcing off as some of the trees were twisting and going into the ocean when she was moving. The world itself looked over more of it as she felt out with the force. It was calming when she started walking and closing the distance to the massive teeth. She could see ridges within the water going deeper inwards towards the sea while she touched a section of the large tooth while wondering what they might find but she looked off into the distance. "These are cool."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel tagged along as they decided to investigate the massive teeth. It was at least entertaining — for Zak seemed hyper at the thought of visiting them. And perhaps it might yield some clues about this place.

She moved through the jungle as quickly as the others, the wind in their hair as they made their way back to the beach. Once they reached the sand, the atmosphere changed. The humidity and energy of the jungle gave way to calmness and a cool sea breeze.

Orihime reached the teeth first. Sorel called out, “Are they teeth or are they rocks?”

[member="Orihime Ike"] [member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Zak Dymo"] [member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza remained quiet during the talk of Rancor and Sarlaac. Both beasts she’d never encountered, having grown up in a dense urban center. Still, she didn’t really care what sort of horrible beast that the teeth belonged to, because in the end she figured it was probably something that would eat her.

Following behind the others, she was a bit taken aback by how eager they all were to go explore something that she was sure could swallow them whole if given the chance. Then again, the markers could turn out to be completely harmless, and her danger sense wasn’t tingling.

“You guys sure seem excited about our potential deaths.” She arched a brow, casting her eyes out towards the sea.

[member="Sorel Crieff"] [member="Orihime Ike"] [member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Zak Dymo"]

 

[Zak Dymo]

“You guys sure seem excited about our potential deaths.”

​

"Yes!"

The Padawan Joza Lady Person probably hadn't been looking for an affirmative response to that question. But, Zak was good for random statements if nothing else. And, first pumping into the air, the jumping, bouncing, skipping Nautolan was definitely affirmative action. Or acting in the affirmative. Or just bouncing around. Because Nautolan.

Any one of those was likely to be the answer.

To what question, no one could claim to know. And probably didn't want to ask in the first place.

"We... Like... See, the teeth-monster, it... it can, like, eat Valae an'... an' then she... she's a girl, so it... it'll get cooties an' then... an then the whole ocean will have cooties, an' pass it... pass it to the planet, which will get cooties, an then explode!"

If it was physically, or grammatically, possible that may have not only been one sentence but also one breath as well.

And this was the workings of a nine year old mind.

​

[member="Joza Perl"] | [member="Sorel Crieff"] | [member="Valae Kitra"] | [member="Orihime Ike"]​

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