The Adventures of a Healer and a Viking: Pirates, Part II

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Val. This isn't my first time 'round the verse. We take risks every time we step out a door. Get on a starship. And I'm not going to risk you coming with me while you need to recover. Then you would be a liability."

Arms crossed and she stared at him just as hard as he stared at her. Standing on the bench, fingers hit the button to unseal the hatch. "I'm not going to climb anything if it's unsafe."

Insulted intelligence.

"I'm going to do a little scouting. If I stay in this pod any longer, I might very well go insane. You rest. I'm going and we'll both keep our sanity. Like you said, we need each other."

Totally used his argument against him.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, irritation and impatience rising in her voice. She pushed on her tiptoes and peeked her head outside the hatch.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

This wasn’t just about climbing, it was about being impatient and not thinking ahead. There were more things on this island than just rocks, they both knew that already. Sure she could handle one Saber-cat, but what about two? Three?

The truth was they had no idea what was out there.

Before Taheera could take even a single step out the door she would feel a massive arm sliding around her stomach and pulling her back. The argument she made were all fine and dandy, but they were still foolish. Yes he was tired, and yes he needed rest, but that didn’t mean she should go out alone.

”If all you’re doing is a little scouting then I can come with.” His lips were right by her ear as he held her in place. ”Just give me a few seconds to get some clothes on.”

It was clear that he wasn’t taking no for an answer.

”I’m not doing this just to be annoying. I’m doing it because I intend for us to both make it off this Island, and we do that by taking less risks. Not more.” She was right that they took risks each time they stepped out that door, but she couldn’t really refute the fact that said risk was lessened when both of them were together.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

The one time when she was at a disadvantage was definitely with their size difference. She felt that arm snake around her waist. Feet became rooted in place.

"Val," hands went down to try and wriggle free from his grasp. After a few seconds, when it was clear he wouldn't let her go, she stopped. "You are being ridiculous. But if this is the compromise you insist on having, then fine."

She'd glare at him if she could. She settled for glaring at the open hatch, instead. "Please let go of me."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

Val considered for a moment whether or not Taheera would run away as soon as he let her go, but ultimately he decided she wouldn’t be that childish. So slowly he let his arm slip away from her stomach, half standing within the tiny pod as he grabbed his clothes from off the bench and began to pull them off.

He could feel his muscles protest, but at this point...well he was going to keep his word.

”We’ll agree to disagree.” Val answered her comment of him being ‘ridiculous’. This island was dangerous, whether she wanted to acknowledge it or not, and he would do what he had to do in order to keep her, and himself safe. If that meant he was going to be a little tired?

Fine.

”Okay.” He told her with a warm smile. ”Let’s go ‘scout’”

It was clear that he didn’t entirely believe her about just scouting.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

She did think about using the force to give herself a burst of speed, lock Val in the pod, and go on her own. However, she knew if she did that, he STILL wouldn't rest. He'd just be worried or work on a way out. Then he might come charging after her.

Even if he didn't, he still wouldn't be 'resting.'

Eyes rolled as he released her. Green-fingers reached up and she pulled herself free from the pod. She landed on the beach with a light plop. The entire beach was washed out. There were a few large trees down. Most of the palms were fine. They were built to take that kind of weather. Other debris and branches were scattered everywhere. Any trail that once lead to their pod was completely gone.

Once Val popped his head out, she began the trek, cutting toward the cliff in the center of the island. She went slow on purpose, giving his muscles even more of a chance to rest. The last thing they needed was him to overdo it more than his stubborn self already was.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

She of course immediately headed towards the cliff.

It was something that he'd predicted. The scouting missions would of course very quickly turn into a climbing mission. There was no doubt in his mind of that, though he decided not to say it out loud, mostly because he knew Taheera would simply deny it anyway. So instead he remained quiet, heading towards the cliff alongside her and stepping over felled trees and torn down vines. He frowned a few times as he took in the destruction of the storm.

They really had been lucky to have the pod.

Without it they would have been stuck in the weather, or at best inside of a dank cave that barely kept out the rain. Yet their shelter had served them well, more than well in fact.

A small smile crept on his face, his eyes flickering towards her.

Val said nothing, but an air of...satisfaction fell form him. Not smugness like he had before, but a certain odd joyous glow.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

If she felt anything akin to smugness coming from Val, she ignored it. She kept her senses outward, searching for any danger and signal from the force. But it seemed like most of the island creatures were still hiding or in their shelters from the storm. It would take them a little while longer to venture out...if they survived.

In no time at all, they reached the same fresh water stream and thundering falls. It roared with a lot more vigor than before from the amount of rain the storm dumped on the island. Un-shouldering her pack, she pointed at that same large rock from earlier. Her blood stains were long gone.

"Sit and rest."

She tossed him a ration and some water from her pack.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

Val sat down, though he watched her carefully.

"Sit with me." The tone mimicked hers. Not quite an order, not quite a suggestion either.

It wasn't that he didn't trust her, it wasn't like she would go off darting into the jungle, but there was a certain portion of him that still feared she would do something that would put herself into danger. She was the type of person that would throw themselves on a thermal detonator to save a room full of people. It was an unfortunate self sacrificial streak that ran through her, one that Val recognized early on. It was a good quality to have he supposed, but...well demonstrably foolish in his eyes.

Her life mattered more than a dozen others just by nature of what she was.

He had explained this to her upon their first encounter. She was a healer, educated, and a Jedi. That in it of itself was enough to 'rank' her above many others, even himself. Val could only take lives, he could only kill, Taheera on the other hand could save them.

That meant something.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"I'm not tired," she replied curtly. And she really wasn't. She'd gotten more sleep than him. And then some. And she couldn't explain the charge of energy she felt after that storm.

Turning her back to the giant man, she knelt by the stream and began re-filling the water bottles. Boots crunched in the riverbed. One knee pressed into the dirt.

"But we can rest here a bit longer. If you need it," she cast a glance over her shoulder at him.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

He frowned for a moment.

"Just a bit longer." In the end, even Val couldn't go forever. He hadn't had proper meat in the a few days now, and things...well things were getting difficult. The rations certainly helped, eating a double portion helped more, but there was a limit to what he could do. Pulling the pod onto the beach had been hard enough, fighting the cat? Worse. Then the night of...activity, well in the end he had tired himself perhaps a bit too much.

He would be alright.

Just needed rest.

Though of course Taheera was rather determined in this situation, and while he'd rather have been back in the pod sleeping he also didn't want to wake up to find her dead body on the ground of one of the surrounding cliffs. He had come to enjoy her presence far too much for such a thing.

Thus he would suffer through this.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

She wanted to remind him that he should've stayed in the pod. But she bit back her tongue. "Okay," she stood. She sighed. She wasn't tired but she needed to meditate. Stepping away from the river, she plopped down in the small meadow. Legs crossed and eyes closed. Back remained straight.

Then, she let her senses wander.

A light breeze that wasn't there before began to stir the flowers in the grass.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

He watched her in silence. Meditation had never really been something he could do. Val had tried it once, when he had been traveling through planets owned by the Moross Crusade. The priests at one of the Temples that he'd stayed in had tried to teach him how.

It had been an interesting experience to say the least, but in the end Val had been...to impatient. He had been told there would be results from meditation, that it was a way to find inner peace. For him however...that peace had been more than fleeting. The turmoil that he had felt didn't go away with the silence, it had simply come in roaring thunder. He had not liked reflected on himself, had not liked sitting there in thought. No Val preferred the noise of movement.

The rush of wind through his hair.

The flex of his muscles as he fought.

Val didn't like sitting still. Even resting, even sitting upon this rock was enough to make his leg break out into an almost uncontrollable jitter. He was not a man that was used to staying still, staying in one place at all. Not anymore anyway.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

The winds grew. The mirialan's face grew stormy to match the growing shade of the sky above them. The winds began to swirl in mini-eddies. Chestnut-strands of hair whipped wildly around her face. Brows scrunched down. It was clear she wasn't there m

Her mind was somewhere else.

The sky continued to darken. But it seemed like only above their little valley. A perimeter of sunshine surrounded them.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

Val frowned, looking around them for a few moments as he noticed the odd weather patterns. He had no idea what was going on of course, just that he...well didn't feel quite comfortable. The storm had been enough to destroy half the island, and if more was coming...well he'd rather get Taheera's little "scouting" mission over with so they could get back to the pod where there was both a comfortable bed, and safety away from any potentially dangerous weather patterns.

"Okay." He said finally.

"Let's get going." Val had no idea if she even heard him. "I think the storm is acting up again."

Which meant it was high time they got out of there.

The less they were out in the open the better as far as he was concerned. The sun was shining...but well the darkness in other areas still concerned him. He didn't want to be out and about when the storm decided tot urn back around and hit them again.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

His voice drew her out. Barely. Eyes moved beneath closed lids. The dark cloud seemed to dissipate even though the wind still moved. The buzzing energy of the force slowed. Eyes snapped open.

The sun suddenly shown as if a cloud never appeared.

Taheera hadn't seen any of it. She'd only felt the force. Eyes squinted up at the sunny sky. Brow crinkled. "Storm?"

She turned toward the path that would take them up a steeper incline to the base of the cliff.

"You feeling okay?"

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

"Fine." Val told her honestly. He wasn't a complete fool, and it didn't take him much to put two and two together. Something had happened...something with Taheera and the force. He couldn't quite tell what, but...well it was obvious.

"Let's just get going." Val offered her a smile. "I don't like getting wet."

Not necessarily true, he was a fine swimmer and rain had never bothered him

Yet something was different. He wasn't sure what, he wasn't even quite sure why, but...well whatever she had done while meditating she didn't even seem to realized. For now Val decided not to ask. Taheera had been through much as of late, she had quite literally...well died. He felt like asking her too many questions, pushing her too much with the force would have been a bad thing. Thus he didn't mention the odd storm formations. "I melt."

Val said with a grin.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

A smirk curved on her lips as she forged ahead. "Who knew something so small could be your downfall?" She cast him a glance over her green shoulder.

Lightsaber came out and she began using it to slice them a path through the jungle. The plants were still soaked from the storm, so she didn't have to worry about a fire. Neck craned up. The cliff base loomed ahead.

So far, no trouble.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

Val didn't mind admitting that lightsabers scared him.

The weapons were, in his mind, absolutely terrifying. They could cut through nearly anything, lasted forever, and took a fair amount of grace to handle. He'd only ever seen one before, and even now he couldn't help but flinch slightly whenever Taheera swung the weapon in front of them to clear the jungle. Regular swords he could handle, even vibo-blades didn't faze him much, his flesh could still take them, but lightsabers? Well lightsabers were a different story.

"All giants are slain by small things." His voice remained steady despite his weariness. "Don't you know the stories?"

Val asked with a small smile.

They had been the children favorites, unsurprisingly. Tales of giants being slain by the little guy. They were surprisingly common within the galaxy, perhaps it was because everyone liked an underdog story, everyone like to imagine themselves beating someone bigger.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Arms flexed as she sliced another vine and another away. The cliff loomed above them. Thumb powered off the weapon. Sweat clung to her skin.

"Nope, never heard of those," she turned back to look at Val, clipping the saber to her belt. "Spent most of my time in the clinics and archives. I didn't exactly have a childhood."

She blushed, letting that information slip. He still didn't know she was...had been a clone.

"See any good way up?"

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]v

"Stories aren't just for Children." Val told her as he began to search the edges of rock for handholds or some other way up. He frowned for a moment as his eyes darted from place to place. Climbing was fun, climbing cliffs even more fun, but he doubted that he could pull himself all the way up in his current condition. Had he been at full rest? Well things would have been different, but for now Val was searching for the easy way.

Eventually he found it.

There was a steep incline, not quite a ninety degree angle cliff. That would allow them to half hike up the rock face instead of climb their way over the sheer cliff face. It would take time, but would also be a lot more safe, not to mention easier. "There."

He smiled and pulled Taheera along, continuing their earlier conversation.

"Stories can teach you a lot." Val contended. "Histories, culture, half a dozen things you wouldn't even imagine."