The Secrets of Felucia(Paega Anginous)

[Christian Slade]

Christian hadn't understood the intentions of a young and beautiful Sith he'd met when searching the galaxy for holocrons almost a year ago. He met her and bested her in combat, though she proved resilient and eager to learn. She'd come to him seeking his guidance. It was something others had asked of him before, but he'd never taken on a companion. He'd turned the others away without hesitation, but he had known from the start that this woman would not take no as an acceptable answer.

He might have considered her an apprentice of his, if she'd considered herself one, but she was far past the meager skill of an apprentice level Sith. She was very capable of defending herself, and she simply chose to be around Christian when she wasn't off the grid. He didn't mind, however. He rather enjoyed her company, or at least he'd been growing to, but still he misunderstood her intentions and why she continued to come back to him. Was she simply wishing to become stronger and knew that he could assist her with such a task? Was she seeking adventure and knowledge in for force that he could provide for her? Was there something more to the woman that he wasn't seeing yet?

He didn't know the first thing about her. Something he was presently realizing as he brought his silver, streamlined ship, the Phantom, down for landing on Felucia. He set the ship down gently on the surface of the tallest mushrooms in the area, which was a forest of the fungi. As the ship's engines cooled, Christian let his hands fall from the ship controls. He leaned back in his seat and thought for a moment about the fact that no one had ever attended one of these journeys with him. "We're here...", Christian whispered through the force to the woman who had commandeered his quarters for the trip.

It was going to be an interesting trip to say the least, and if he were lucky, he might find out just exactly why she was around at all.

@[member="Paega Anginous"]

 

[Paige Argous]

@[member="Christian Slade"]

Had it really just been a year? Just one year since she had been nothing more than a mere pawn under the authority of the Sith Empire? Lots had changed since a year ago, both to her and the rest of the Galaxy. For starters, the Sith Empire was gone. Paega had apparently missed the defeat of the empire on Korriban, during the few weeks in which she had been locked up in some Republic prison. When she got out of jail, the Sith Knight was conflicted on what to do. Return to what remained of the empire, a collection of disorganized Sith scattered amongst the stars? Paega had decided to rule that out as an option.

She had gone with the other option. An option in which she had surprised even herself by choosing it over her option number one. That other option, as it turned out, was the Sith Lord Christian Slade. Paega had first searched for the Sith Lord, intent on finding him and taking revenge on him for what had happened back during her encounter with him on Korriban. Her intent, however, had changed over time. At first, it developed into the idea that she would learn under the Sith Lord then take revenge on him. Then it shifted to simply learning more about the Force under the Sith Lord's mentorship. So on and so forth, the Sith Knight's intent on seeking out the Sith Lord had changed. Now, it happened to be that Paega had judged Slade as someone that she could actually trust. How this happened, the blonde did not know. Either she hadn't met enough people during her time in the empire, or maybe she simply held a high threshold for trusting in someone, a threshold that Slade had somehow went over. The question of whether the Sith Lord trusted Paega back was a totally different question, ofcourse.

"We're here..." The Force, or Christian's voice transmitted through the Force to be more accurate, spoke to her. Glancing outside the window of the ship, Paega saw vast forests of flora stretching for miles. Paega had never been to Felucia before, nor she had ever gone on an adventure with Christian, serving as his companion. There was a first time for everything, she supposed. Making sure she had her lightsaber with her, Paega walked out of the quarters towards the cockpit, wearing a simple greyish cloak over her. "I suppose you can lead the way, Christian." Paega said as she leaned against the cockpit wall, looking at Slade before taking another glance at the massive fungal forest outside.

"Remind me again what exactly we're here for..." she requested.

 

[Christian Slade]

Christian's head bobbed to the side as his golden brown orbs looked the woman up and down. Always the beauty, she was, but he had to push those thoughts out of his head. He wasn't here to court the woman on the beautiful, yet deceptively dangerous planet. No, he was here to further his own knowledge of the force, and she had accompanied him there as his companion, an understudy of sorts. She wasn't his pawn, however. Not some simple apprentice tugging at his heels. No. She'd earned more respect from him than that.

Looking her dead in the eyes Christian finally said, "We're here for the same reason that I've made these treks many times in the past to other planets.", he said, reaching down to each arm rest and pushing himself up out of the pilot's chair. He then turned to face her as he leaned up to stand to his full, towering height. "We're here to learn what those who came before us left behind."

He smirked after having said that and then began walking across the ship. Stepping past her he stopped in the small hangar and watched as the platform lowered to the soft top of the massive fungi they had landed upon. He stepped out onto it, and looked around the area, surveying for predators and taking note of the temperature carefully. There were many dangers there on Felucia that they would need to be ready to face. That, however, was just another test to him to see if he deserved the gift of knowledge from those who'd been there long before they had. He'd braved every test that had been thrown at him before, and he wasn't planning on letting this place slow his pace.

"The last holocron that I came across spoke of an ancient Sith civilization that had been dwelling here long ago. Of course, they didn't know what they were exactly, but it seems the Felucians were force sensitive creatures as well, although they were considered different from the common Felucian. The one's we're looking for were know as Jungle Felucians, and they are all but extinct here, I'm afraid. That, or they've become very good at hiding.", he said, walking across the top of the mushroom and kneeling down to look over it's edge.

"See that canyon there.", Christian said, raising his eyes to look across a great valley in front of them that separated them from a massive pair of mountains that rose up forming somewhat of a jagged crescent shape of canyons. "There was a great civilization of Felucian Shaman that inhabited those mountains a long time ago. It was, for all intents and purposes, their great temple. Lucky for us, they discovered the technology of holocrons somewhere along the way."

@[member="Paega Anginous"]

 

[Paige Argous]

@Christian Slade

Having lived in the sandy planet of Korriban for most of her life, Paega found the planet Felucia to be an interesting planet. So filled with life, it seemed. She wasn't all too suprised when Slade stated that natives of the planet were force-sensitive creatures. Paega simply nodded in response as the Sith Lord explained, obviously having done some extensive research on the planet and its history. She looked evenly back at him as he got out of his seat and proceeded to walk across the ship.

The blonde Sith Knight swiftly followed after Christian down the ship's platform and out onto the giant plant that they had landed on, continuing to listen to him as he explained away. Paega was somewhat glad that Christian was choosing to share his knowledge of the planet with her. At least it showed that he held trust in Paega, at least to an extent. "Have you ever actually seen one?" she inquired as she stood near the edge of the mushroom, next to Christian. "A Felucian, I mean."

As they conversed, Paega found herself feeling as if they were being watched upon. Brushing the blonde hair out of her face, she took another look around, not seeing any present danger. The Force stated otherwise, however, and it warned of possible danger, especially near the mountains that Christian had mentioned. She had a feeling that regardless of whether or not Christian had ever seen a Felucian before, they were about to encounter them, quite soon.

 

[Christian Slade]

Christian smiled as he heard Paega's question. It had been a long time since he'd been back to the planet that he once called home, at least for a time. He knew it well enough, but it had been a long time since he'd been there and they did need to be careful. The dangers were endless there, and if the Felcuians wouldn't prove dangerous, that native beasts certainly would.

"Of course I have. I used to live here for a time as a child, after all.", he said, glancing over his shoulder at the girl as he slowly let his form fall forwards. The next moment, he was gone, letting himself fall off the edge of the massive mushroom only to fall to the neighboring, shorter fungi in front of them. Landing there on the soft, spongy thing, Christian slowly stood and turned to look up at his pretty companion and said, "But we've got much worse things to worry about than the Shamanistic Felucians of this planet.", he said, turning and starting across the top of the next mushroom cap. "After all, this planet is home to Rancors and Acklays as well."

"You had best prepare yourself for them, rather than the Felucians who will likely steer clear when they sense our grip of the dark side. I don't believe that I've ever come across one that even close to matched me, and they may even approach us with friendly curiosity if we behave. That is, if they're feeling brave today.", he said, laughing as he threw himself to the next cap and started leading the way to into the valley.

@[member="Paega Anginous"]

 

[Paige Argous]

@[member="Christian Slade"]

Paega looked curiously at Christian. He had lived in Felucia when he was a child? Interesting. "Oh, I see..." the blonde said to Slade's reply and further explanation about the Felucians and how there were more worrisome threats in Felucia against them. She blinked as she saw him intentionally fall off the edge of the mushroom they were on. Without much further hesitation, she ran after him, landing softly on the lower mushroom after performing a flip in mid-air.

"Rancors and Acklays live here..? Sounds like fun." Paega said with a grin as she tried to keep up with Christian. She had anticipated such beasts to be native to Felucia, being the crammed-with-life planet that it was. Smirking slightly at Christian's further comments on how Felucians wouldn't be much of a problem for them, Paega lept once more forward to keep up with the Sith Lord.

"So I thought Zeltron was your home planet?" she inquired casually, interested in finding more about Slade's past, taking note of Christian's willingness to reveal Felucia as his home planet. Paega was determined not to miss the chance to learn more about her travel companion's past history if she could.

 

[Christian Slade]

"They do indeed.", Christian said in reference to her question about the beasts that inhabited the planet. "But there is absolutely nothing fun about them.", he said, glancing over his shoulder at the woman as they continued leaping from place to place, weaving a path on the tops of the mushrooms. "In fact...", he started to say as he landed on the next top, "...we're going to travel like this as long as we can in order to avoid encountering any of them. After all, the Rancors and Acklays aren't even the most frightening things on this planet."

Turning away from her, Christian jumped to the next top and said, "It's the small and seemingly innocent creatures that are the most dangerous. From parasites that can penetrate your skin and find their ways to your brain stem and influence your conscience through mood swings and cravings to beautiful plants that spit poisonous barbs or acid, depending on the plant. It's also the real reason I'd rather stay clear of the cramped, moist and humid places that are around the base of these massive mushrooms.", he said, jumping from one cap up high to the next, flipping forward to throw himself further and higher up as he did. He landed a little off balance, but as he did he quickly corrected and continued on without slowing his pace for the girl to keep up. She'd have to keep up with him if she wanted to get stronger, which was part of the point really.

Christian stopped all of a sudden, after they'd been cap hopping for a time after she'd made mention of his home planet. He stood there, eyes momentarily glazing over in thought for a time as a few memories flooded back into him. The many beautiful different places he remembered growing up on that planet, and even a few others. He and his parents were always moving until the Sith had finally found them, and when they had, he'd been orphaned. That day he'd decided to make his own way, and he'd decided to start on a planet he'd called home a couple of times. That planet was Zeltros, and he grew into the man he was because of it.

"Zeltros is my home.", Christian stated rather bluntly, absent of emotion. He wasn't angry or upset, but clearly his mood had taken a bit of a turn. "This place is but a memory of a simple and short period of my life that I haven't missed.", he finally said after a long silence, then hopping from his place to another cap and continuing down into the valley where shortly their forest of mushrooms would end.

@[member="Paega Anginous"]

 

[Paige Argous]

@[member="Christian Slade"]

Perhaps the sarcasm in her tone hadn't been evident enough, Paega thought as she quickly followed after the Sith Lord. She didn't find Rancors and Acklays to be much fun either, to be truthful. Paega remained silent as she listened to Slade talk about why they were intentionally keeping to staynig on top of the forest of mushrooms. "What's the rush?" Paega was about to ask, as she struggled to keep up with the fast-paced Sith.

It then occured to her that possibly this was Slade's way of evaluating her, to see if she was capable of keeping up with him. Paega thus decided not to voice out that particular question. The Sith Knight worked on controlling her breathing as she jumped amongst the tall mushrooms, right after Christian. At one point she realized that the caps they were jumping on were becoming higher and further apart. Paega let out a soft grunt of effort as she flung herself towards the next mushroom cap. She fell slightly short of what she had hoped for, and instead ended up barely grabbing onto the mushroom cap to avoid falling to the forest floor. With slight help from the Force, Paega propelled herself forward to land on the mushroom cap, where she found Christian had stopped on.

She took the time that Slade spent thinking and talking to recover her breath. Evidently, the Sith Lord didn't seem to enjoy talking about his past, Paega noted as she listened. "Oh, I see." she replied simply, then followed after him. "Are we almost there?" she inquired, slightly out of breath again. Paega doubted that they were, but she did want to get a report from Christian as to how far they had to go.

 

[Christian Slade]

"Only a couple more miles, but soon the scenery will change he said.", and sure enough, a few minutes later the mushrooms grew shorter and shorter and were more sparse in number. Finally Christian was able to leap to a tall standing fern like tree that had long, slim, yes strong limbs. As he landed upon it, it gave ever so lightly, proving to be a bit springy. As he did, he reached out and grabbed another limb to balance himself easier as he glanced of his shoulder at Paega. "We'll be safer in this area, but for now we'll keep up high until we make it through the valley. We'll know when we've reached the canyon. It's dead in that area."

Without a moment's hesitation, Christian jumped forward to the next limb and then the next, almost at a smooth skip as he just the flexibility of the massive plants to propel him forward with ease. He stopped from time to time, however, to continue to speak to Paega as he felt that getting to know the woman, who might end up calling friend and ally soon enough, would be in the best interest of them both.

"So...", he started, then hopping to another branch and stopping again. "What about you? What's your story?"

@[member="Paega Anginous"]

 

[Paige Argous]

@[member="Christian Slade"]

"Alright, sounds good..." Paega replied as she hurried after the Sith Lord. The mushrooms certainly were now getting shorter, she realized, as she performed a back-flip to land on a mushroom cap at a lower elevation.

As they moved forward, the blonde tried to make out Slade's method of propelling himself forward. Perhaps he was utilizing the Force in a certain way to thrust himself further? There was a limit to how far anyone could jump physically unless he was using the Force in some way. Paega hopped forward once more, clinging onto a limb then jumping to another of the giant plants, doing her best to keep up.

"My story...?" she repeated, jumping onto the branch that Slade had stopped on, almost colliding with him. "I believe I told you about it back on Zeltros. I was born some place on Coruscant, ended up on Korriban after being captured by Imperial agents. Lived and trained in the Sith Academy for half a dozen years, then spent another half a dozen being of use to the Empire. And now, I'm here. There really isn't much to it right now."

 

[Christian Slade]

Christian shifted to the side as the woman landed next to him to keep her from colliding with him. He then looked over at her as she spoke about her past, something that she had shared a bit with him before, but that wasn't exactly what he had been asking. "Indeed you have shared this with me, but there has been time between this and the last time we were together.", he said, looking from the woman to their path again as he jumped forwards and landed gently on a neighboring branch. "What happened with the Empire? I know that they were undone, but how? What happened that destroyed it? And for that matter, what about you? Where is your heart now? Are you a wonderer? Are you searching for your soul's counterpart? Or, are you simply looking for more out of life? More out of the dark side?"

He glanced over his shoulder at the woman and then continued on, leaping from limb to limb, his golden eyes always scanning about the forest floor for predators that they might have to watch out for. As he waited for her to answer him, though, he found himself stopping on a high branch of one of the ferns that had been partially uprooted by a pit that had formed sometime long ago. The earth had fallen away, and in it caverns and tunnels had formed. From one of the caverns emerged a massive Rancor that galloped out on all fours, stopped, and roared a loud and earth shaking roar. It was time for it to hunt, and they were going to make sure and not be the meal it sought out.

"We're almost to the edge of the forest. Once there, we can continue on foot and all we'll need to keep an eye out for are Sarlacc pits."

@[member="Paega Anginous"]

 

[Paige Argous]

@[member="Christian Slade"]

Paega, too, jumped forward and landed lightly on another nearby branch before talking. Perhaps Slade had also missed out on the fall of the Sith Empire. She gave a slight shrug as she replied. "I missed out on it, I was imprisoned by the Republic during the time of the empire's fall. From what I have heard though, the Sith Empire got defeated at Dromund Kaas, and the empire just crumbled down right after that. The Sith are scattered across the stars now, some former Imperials have formed minor factions of their own." Paega then gave herself some time to reply to Christian's follow up question.

"Where is my heart now..?" she repeated to herself. "Pretty much everything you just said, I suppose." the Sith Knight said. Paega looked around in surprise at the sound of the Rancor's roar. Giving a short nod to Slade, Paega continued moving forward, keeping right behind him.

 

[Christian Slade]

They had gone on for a time, leaving the wild Rancor behind a few miles back, and before they knew it they had reached a break in the forest. The fern died off and got smaller and smaller until they were forced to continue on foot because they didn't have strong enough branches to use on their trek. As they found a clearing, though, their boots sank into dust and decay on the crust of the planet. It was as if a massive fire had burned through that place and left no life behind it.

"So your heart yearns for love, your soul seeks purpose and your very being craves knowledge and power.", he said with the slightest of smirks in the corner of his mouth as his golden eyes looked across the dead plain to the crescent shaped canyon. "Well I hope I can help you with that.", he said, wasting no time and starting forwards across the dead and cracked ground beneath them that had been too riddled with stone and soot and unable to bear life. They were only a couple of miles out now, but the way was rough, though they could see clearly now and they wouldn't have to take as much care in avoiding the native creatures.

"Do you care that the Empire has crumbled into dust, or do you feel free now?"

@[member="Paega Anginous"]

 

[Paige Argous]

@[member="Christian Slade"]

Paega found it curious how the ground beneath them now composed of dust and decayed plants, and yet only a bit back there had there been much vegetation. It appeared as though that something unfortunate had happened to, or on, this clearing in the forest. Treading after Slade, she shrugged at his comment. It would've been quite accurate to call her an ambitious person. The Sith Knight let her thoughts drift as she continued walking, eyeing the canyon infront when Slade inquired how she felt about the Empire's collapse.

"Do I care? Not at all, to be honest." she replied without hesitating. "To be truthful, I don't think I ever really cared much about the Empire even before it collapsed." Paega stated. Hopefully Christian could identify it as an honest statement. "You know, I think its my turn to ask you some questions." she said as they continued walking. "What do you seek? Where is your heart at?" she inquired.

 

[Christian Slade]

Christian turned and faced the young woman with him, walking backwards as he did. His smirk grew into a bit of a smile as he watched her face as he said, "I have been asking a lot of questions, haven't I? Pardon my curiosity, but I do find you interesting.", he said, sliding his hands into the pockets of his duster as he turned back around to walk forwards again, standing a little closer to Paega, though, as they walked. He seemed to be getting much more comfortable with the young woman, though that was an odd feeling for him. Closeness was something that he hadn't shared with anyone for quite a time, but he seemed to be welcoming it all the same.

"Well...", he said, golden eyes surveying the land as he thought about what had happened there years before. "Not very long ago I might have told you that I seek knowledge and power through the teachings of the dark side left behind by those who'd come before us.", he said, l shifting his shoulders towards Paega a bit as he turned and looked down at the woman walking with him. "Now I don't know...", he then said, looking from her and staring at the ground that even crunched and cracked as he walked over it.

"I've been a recluse for years now, relying only on myself for everything. All I needed was myself and my knowledge of the dark side to make it this far on my own, so I didn't think that I needed anything or anyone else.", silence fell between the pair for a time as Christian came to stop at the edge of a rock encrusted path that lead up into the mountains. They'd reached their destination, but their work hadn't even begun yet. "It's hard, though... being alone like that for so many years.", he said, looking over at Paega. "I like to tell myself that I needed to find more leads and find more documentation on ancient Sith civilizations that I couldn't do unless I fell back into the Galaxy's bustling society, but I think I really needed to be reminded that I wasn't the only living creature left in the galaxy. That I wasn't alone unless I wanted to be."

@[member="Paega Anginous"]

 

[Paige Argous]

@[member="Christian Slade"]

Paega smirked slightly at Slade's remark about how he had been asking a lot of questions. Truthfully the blonde Sith Knight didn't care that she was being questioned. Instead, she took the questions as a sign that perhaps the Sith Lord was growing to trust her. If asking questions could help clear up any suspicions Slade could hold against her, Paega was more than happy to clarify things for him.

In the next several minutes or so in which Slade talked about himself, Paega thought that she had gotten to learn more about Christian than ever before. Perhaps this was a sign that Christian had grown to trust her enough to let her know about his own thoughts. From what she could tell, Christian seemed like a rather lonely person. After all, not too many people in the Galaxy were brave, intelligent, or patient enough to even try and attempt to uncover hidden artifacts and information from the past like Slade. After he finished talking, Paega kept silent for some time, simply gazing at the mountains before them.

"So, Christian, do you have any family members around? Any siblings?" Paega inquired somewhat abruptly, looking evenly back at the Sith Lord. "You know, maybe you should try relying and trusting more on others..." she suggested.

 

[Christian Slade]

As they made their way up into the canyon, they took a trail that lead a rocky, jagged path. Christian looked back and forth to make sure that they weren't being tailed or watched or even hunted by some unknown predator, and from what he could see they weren't. He then looked back at Paega with those cautious golden eyes he had as she asked about his family. "I remember my parents talked about someone else when I was very young, but I only heard it once and I never got the chance to ask about it later in my life. Other than that, unless my father had a little midnight visit with a whore I didn't know about, then no.", he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Their path ended and another began on a ledge above them. He hopped up with ease, but for whatever reason he took the time to turn and hold his hand out to Paega and help her up, if she would accept his help, though he would be impressed if she made her own way as well. As he waited with his and held out, Christian watched her and said, "I haven't trusted anyone in a long time. I was raised away from the galaxy until my parents were hunted down and murdered by a party of Sith sent by the Empire they fled. And, from a young age, I raised myself on Zeltros."

@[member="Paega Anginous"]

 

[Paige Argous]

@[member="Christian Slade"]

They were definitely making progress. Both in the sense of getting closer to their destination, as well getting to know each other better. Paega hadn't expected Slade to be so willing to directly answer her questions. In fact, she realized that now she had a much better picture of who Christian Slade really was. "Hey, at least you've met your parents before." she replied with a shrug. Paega's oldest living memory was that of roaming the streets of the Coruscant Underworld as a little girl in search for food, without any family. Still, she doubted Slade's memory of seeing his parents get murdered by Sith could be very positive either.

The blonde Sith let out an exasperated sigh as a ledge appeared before them. She gratefully took Christian's outreached hand in getting herself on the ledge. "Thanks." Paega said as she pulled herself up. From what she heard now, it appeared as though Slade had trust issues. Having had to raise himself on the party planet of Zeltros probably hadn't helped with him learning to trust anyone. "You know who else doesn't trust anyone? Every other fething Sith in the Galaxy. Maybe you're not so different from other Sith in that sense." the blonde remarked, recalling how Slade had identified himself as being above the average stereotypical Sith.

"Well... do you trust me?" she would then proceed to ask.

 

[Christian Slade]

Christian shrugged when she made mention of his parents, who he hadn't really known that well by the time of their deaths. He'd known what love was, though he hadn't known of it. He'd always loved his parents, though he'd never understood it, but he didn't know them the way he could have years down the line as he developed into a young man. He remembered, though, that it was hard watching them die as they had, fighting and killing a few of the Sith who'd found them again in a bloodbath before his golden eyes. It was even harder when he realized they wouldn't be coming back to him and that he would be without him from that point on.

"I didn't know them well, but I did have the chance to love them before I lost them forever. Something that you never got the chance to do with your own parents, but maybe that makes you stronger.", he said, glancing over at Paega as he lead her down a different path, deeper up into the mountain until they found themselves on a ledge no wider than Christian's shoulders. They were able to walk along that path, but it had gotten almost to the point where they would have to scale it doing more climbing than walking.

"It's true.", he said, nodding in agreement as he glanced at Paega again. "Sith aren't the most trusting people, but they're also not the most trustworthy, now are they?", he asked her, those golden eyes examining her as she finally asked him if he trusted her. He was about to answer with a quick and hardly thought out reply, but just before he did he stopped himself as he came to the realization that he actually did trust her. "Well...", he said, stopping and huffing a tuft of air from his chest in more of a scoff at himself. "How about that? I do trust you."

@[member="Paega Anginous"]

 

[Paige Argous]

@[member="Christian Slade"]

The blonde Sith didn't reply to the remark regarding parents. Paega held no love towards her parents, whoever they were. After all, she found no reason to. She held not a single memory of them, and the only thing she knew about them was that they had left her to starve to death in the depths of Coruscant. Perhaps the Sith Lord was right in saying that not knowing her parents had made her stronger, in a way.

"Sith aren't the most trusting people, but they're also not the most trustworthy, now are they?" Paega shrugged. "I suppose many are not." she replied, following right behind Slade as they headed deeper into the mountain. The path that Slade had chosen to take had started to become more and more narrow as they moved forward, much to Paega's dislike. What Christian said next Paega found somewhat suprising. Apparently Slade trusted her.

Paega felt as though Christian could have easily just lied, but for the sake of not contradicting her very next statement, Paega decided to trust Slade. "I trust you as well." she said simply. "Although I certainly do trust you, you know where we're going?" Paega inquired, looking around at where they were currently. They were moving deeper into the mountain, definitely, but she wanted to check with Slade to see if he knew where he was leading them.