Tied Together With A Smile

[Jamie Pyne]

For several long moments Jamie stood quietly, looking down at the perfectly still and clear water. It looked to have quite a bit of depth, and yet the crystals along the bottom and sides had no trouble being seen from where they stood overlooking it. Aela's voice carried through the air and echoed for a distance while she spoke. Her words lingered for a few seconds before Jamie spoke up.

"At least." Jamie agreed with a nod.

There were more crystals here than she could have ever fathomed seeing. Even in the Jedi archives, the videos of Illum showed nowhere near this man. In fact, it paled in comparison. It was apparent that nobody had ever collected a crystal from this cave. There were just so many. They all gave off a warm, soft, blue light beneath the water.

It was unbelievable how many there were. "Hey, set your bag down." She said with a smile before kneeling down herself to set her own pack on to the soft ground. "I want to take a picture of us above this thing."

Fumbling around in the bag she located her camera, feeling for the straps attached to the device and taking it out before pushing the rest of the items off to the side.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Alright." Aela said as she put down her bag. "Think there's enough light?"

That was a bit of a silly question given just what Jamie's camera was capable of.

The Jedi Marshal was pretty sure that the thing could take a picture on the blackest nights of Korriban and still turn out perfectly crisp and clear. Whatever Jamie had paid for it she had probably gotten a steal on it to say the least. She shifted slightly moving towards the Padawan so that she didn't have to walk too far through the dark while still holding her rather expensive camera. For a moment she glanced back towards the lagoon, wondering just how this place had come to be.

"Careful with the flash, not sure how the crystals will react." She doubted there were any sunstones down here, but the environment was a new one.

She glanced back one more time and then stepped up right beside her padawan.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

A momentary wiggle of her nose gave thought to Aela's words. That preceded the long hmmmm that purred in her vocal chords before she began slowly clicking through a number of settings on the device. "Maybe." She said, holding the camera up as a test. Her finger slipped on to the shutter, holding down briefly as a number of red dots appeared in the viewfinder. Another short hmmm followed. The device was turned back around and fiddled with a bit more, half a dozen more clicks and the blonde turned it towards the lagoon again. This time the dots appeared green, and Jamie gave another quick nod.

"This should work." She confidently answered. "I think with the light from the crystals we won't need the flash, or even one of the super fancy settings."

Holding it up to face the two she pressed the small timer, and then leaned in towards Aela as it counted down from five...four...three...two...one...CLICK.

The shutter snapped closed and back, the mechanisms inside working to produce the image on the screen.

She turned it around, observing it for a second or two before angling it towards Aela. "Cute!"

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Just don't put it on your Holobook page." Aela pointed out. Tagging this location would probably be the worst option for keeping it secret, mostly because they'd get a dozen questions about what that glow was, where it came from, and exactly how they'd gotten there. Better just to avoid that all together.

She let out a yawn as Jamie pulled away from her.

"I think I should've slept more." Though of course the ship didn't exactly allow her to do that. "Maybe we should set up a camp here, stay overnight and then head back in the morning."

They likely wouldn't be able to reach the surface again before dark anyhow, and moving back towards the entrance of the cavern just to set up a camp didn't really make much sense to her either. Best to just set everything up here and relax for the night. They didn't have a fire, but Aela had the forethought to bring a small stove that would allow them to at the very least have a hot meal. Starting a fire didn't seem like a smart decision, and they had plenty of light. "Unless you want to squeeze that butt back through the caverns."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I think I'll frame it for my bedroom wall, if you don't mind?"

Jamie was a bit odd like that. Her bedroom back on Naboo had been littered wall to wall with photos she'd taken. Many of nature, others of her friends and family, some of the things she'd like to see, others of famous figures she admired. The photos in that room alone were enough to tell endless stories, it was something she enjoyed cherishing, memories. If there was one way to describe her it would be sentimental. Almost everything had some degree of importance to her, things many would assume were just simple moments were big to her. Pictures, for example, were irreplaceable moments in time captured.

She smiled, setting the camera back down into the bag after quickly snapping a few more of the cave itself.

Standing back up next to Aela she glanced towards the exit, and then back to where their bags were. "We can camp here. I don't think I have the energy to drag myself back up today."

They had already drastically cut the time in half from what normal people could do, it would be best to rest before attempting to finish the route. Though in the next breath, without so much as a warning Jamie turned to Aela, flashing a terrible grin with hands quickly finding the girl's chest as she shoved hard and fast like a viper, sending the Talith girl back and into the water as the payback she had warned of earlier came to pass.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela flailed wildly.

Danger sense was a fantastic force power, generally it warned the user whenever someone intended them harm, unfortunately that didn't quite extend to someone pushing you into a body of water. As Jamie pushed her a look of utter shock and betrayal flashed across her face, her eyes opening wide and her mouth hanging agape. The look of complete awe that dashed across Aela's face would likely serve as more than enough entertainment for weeks to come.

She fell into the water with a tremendous splash, her arms still flailing as she tried to get her bearings. "JAMIE!"

Her screech was so loud that it seemed to echo from every corner of the grand cavern, bouncing around over and over again until it reverberated back towards them.

"THIS IS SO COLD!" The water had no natural sense of heat of course, no sunlight to warm it and nothing that would allow the water to actually acclimate to any sustainable temperature. An immediate shiver ran up her spine. "COLD"!

Eventually the Jedi Master stood, shivering and goosebumps running over her skin.

She didn't think of vengeance, only the need to get out of the water. Quickly she rushed back to shore, splashing the whole way.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Aela would have seen the smirk, the sparkle in her eye, a look of no remorse as she sent the elder girl back into the frigid water. She would know why, the retribution she had warned of for restraining her with the Force outside of the cave earlier in the day. When she had least expected it, when she had let her guard down for just a second, Jamie struck. An endless echo of laughter would ring out in tandem with Aela's screaming of her Padawan's name.

Jamie practically fell to her knees in uncontrolled laughter, gasping for air while she watched the Jedi flail and splash her way back to the damp soil that led back up towards where the blonde knelt, holding her stomach with one hand, the other wiping away the tears of laughter that had come about from the entire ordeal.

"There's----There's a....." She just couldn't hold it together. "A towel!" More rolling laughter came before she could get through the sentence. "In the----In the bag!"

Her hands fell to brace herself on the ground, trying desperately to regain her composure as a sopping wet Aela stamped her soggy wet feet up the pathway.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"I-I-I..." Her teeth chattered over and over again, her lips turning slightly blue.

The water really had been incredibly cold, so cold in fact that she could barely feel her skin. Slowly she rushed over towards the bag that Jamie had pointed out to her. She didn't really bother with any hint of modesty as she went, pulling off her clothes and quickly stripping the wet rags away from herself. For now she simply threw them on the ground, knowing that she would likely have to collect them later and make sure they were actually clean, but right now she didn't care.

"G-give me the towel." Aela said as she pulled her pants off and tossed them aside. "NOW!"

She kept her underwear on, though in truth she would have readily thrown those off too if she thought it would have helped.

Aela could still feel the cold air piercing her, wet skin seemingly attracting every ounce of cold that could come to her. She used the force to try and stave some of it off, but unfortunately 'force warmth' wasn't a power that she knew.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie bit down on the inside of her lip terribly hard to stifle back the laughter. For a single moment she almost felt guilty for what she'd done, but it was simply too funny not to do. She warned Aela after all, that she would pay for the telekinesis act of earlier, and pay she had, to the fullest extent. This had been hysterical for the younger girl. "Okay. Okay, don't get your undies in a bunch!" Grabbing the bag she dug through quickly and pulled free a towel, handing it up to the shivering, teeth clicking Talith.

"Payback." She reminded, before Aela snatched the fabric from her hands.

The blonde sat back against the wall of the cave, arms crossed, looking at the still dripping Jedi Master pat herself down while she stood in nothing but underwear, the drenched shirt, pants, and boots off to the side.

Jamie was entirely amused by the sight.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"G-get..." Her teeth were still chattering. "S-stove."

The cold was really getting to her.

"Warmth!" Her hand suddenly swept up, the force coming in strength to push Jamie a little bit and press her into action. At this point Aela didn't even think that it was possible for her to use her fingers properly, and getting herself anything, much less getting the campfire stove going seemed all but impossible. She wrapped the towel around herself as tightly as she could, patting herself off and quickly trying to get herself dry.

"G-go!" She chattered. "Warmth!"

She repeated the word once more, stumbling over to her own pack to start pulling out random objects, one of them being the campfire stove that she tossed towards Jamie. The other was a sleeping bag, the one she'd packed earlier. That was quickly unraveled and unzipped, used like a blanket to surround herself.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

As it was demanded it was done. Jamie hastily went about getting the stove close to Aela and lighting it. The heat of it would be instantly felt if directly next to it, which the blonde would waive for Aela to do, but it would take time enough for it to stretch throughout the cave and warm the area properly. For now, she would have to settle for the towel, sleeping bag, and sitting beside the stove. She thought perhaps the other girl had learned her lesson for the future.

"Here you go." She said, the laughter from her vengeance now sated. "Sorry I had to do that, but payback is payback."

The other towel she pulled from her bag, the one that was intended for herself, she would give to Aela. Kneeling beside her, she took the girls still very wet hair and wrapped it up in the fabric to help dry it off, as well as keep it away from her neck and back.

"I know you hate me right now, but the look on your face was hysterical."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"That water." Her teeth finally stopped chattering, thank the force. The stove was actually quite warm, radiating heat like nothing else. Jamie had apparently made the correct decision when she had chosen to purchase this particular model, it would run for a very long time, and even without anything on top of it there were many uses...like heating Aela up. She shivered still, pulling the sleeping bag just a little bit tighter around herself.

"Is very..." She let out a hot breath onto her fingers. "Very cold."

She glanced towards her clothes. "And my clothes are ruined."

Probably not entirely ruined, she was pushing it a bit, but she wanted Jamie to feel guilty about what she had done. "We don't know what's in that water! I could die!"

That was unlikely. Any pathogens within the water would likely be killed off by her immune system long before they did any damage to her, but she was hoping to guilt Jamie with the possibility of her death at the very least.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The blonde glanced over at the waterlogged clothes, then back to Aela with a speculative glare.

"I know it's cold." She said bluntly. "Others said the same in their accounts." She knew it was frigid, but they had survived, so surely she wouldn't die. "I wouldn't have pushed you in otherwise."

With a smug smile she stood up, stepping over to the clothing and lifting it up to inspect it. The shirt and pants felt almost like a sponge they were so damp. They probably weren't ruined like she claimed. The boots though? Those might be. She pressed her finger into the sole of the boot, feeling the familiar squish of soggy material.

Jamie gave Aela's clothing a wring out and then laid them flat to dry. "You can borrow some of my clothes to wear on the way back if you need to."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Won't work." Aela said quietly.

For a second she paused, taking in another breath and letting heated air fall over her fingers. She was still shaking, but at the very least she was starting to feel warmer inside. A part of her wondered if it wouldn't behoove her to use the force to toss Jamie into the lake, but eventually she decided against it.

She let out another breath of hot air, and then finally finished speaking. "Your massive ass means your pants won't fit me."

That was probably a bit too cruel, but Aela wasn't in a particularly kind mood in the moment.

She was cold, half naked, and now starting to get hungry. Even with the sleeping bag and towel wrapped around her it was still going to take her a while to get comfortable. Perhaps she'd have to make Jamie set up the tent so she could lay down properly...after eating of course.

That was a given.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie padded over to Aela, crouching down beside the angry girl. She still had the smug smile on her face.

"Oh, Aela,"

Jamie's head shook ever so slowly. "I saw your ass just a minute ago. Your soaked, skimpy, lace underwear leave nothing to the imagination." She leaned a tad bit closer. "Girl, yours is definitely bigger."

Her tongue stuck out before she drew back. The tent would need to be set up regardless. And knowing that Aela was likely in no mood to help her, Jamie started to tend to it on her own,

Aela was going to be angry for a while. That was expected, but still entirely worth it.

"So do you want clothes, or not?" She asked while she began to stake the feet of the tent into the soft soil.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She let out a 'pssssssssssh' in Jamie's direction.

"Jealous." The older girl contented herself with saying.

In truth, Aela had never actually looked at her own rear. She supposed that she could have...but most of the time it was behind her so looking at it was rather difficult. She'd never felt the need to actually try, mostly because she wasn't very shallow and had always been more than okay with herself. Inwardly she shrugged, deciding that this argument didn't even really matter since she doubted any boys were looking at her ass anyway and Jamie was in a strange relationship limbo anyway.

Therefore it was all rather moot.

The Jedi Master nodded slightly to Jamie's other question, her padawan tossing her a shirt and some pants a few moments later. Aela looked at them, doubting that they would actually fit her properly. She was only a little bit bigger than Jamie, but broadness of shoulders and such made a big different. Quickly she slipped on the shirt, finding that it was a bit tighter than she would have liked, second came the pants, which fit much better.

The clothes provided her some warmth, but she was still internally cold.

Slowly Aela scooted closer to the fire.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Of all the things I am not, jealous of you, at least right now, is one of them."

The blonde finished with staking the tent, driving the remaining metal rods into the ground and checking to make sure they would lift and collapse the tent before looking back over to see Aela at least dressed. She was hunched over the stove with the sleeping bag around her, swaying back and forth. That was what finally made Jamie feel at least somewhat guilty about what she'd done, even if she still hadn't regretted it.

"I'm sorry." She said finally. "Not for what I did, but for how cold you are."

Jamie wanted that to be clear. "Is there anything I can do so you don't kill me tonight?"

Her tone was sincere, after all she didn't actually want to hurt Aela. And now that she had gotten her revenge, she was happy to return things to normal.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

”No, its alright.” Aela said after a moment of quiet. She was still mad of course, having nearly frozen off all of her extremities and still feeling as though she were about to die a horrible death of hypothermia, but she’d get over it soon.

Probably.

The cold was going to stick with her for quite a bit, but between the stove, the new clothes, and the sleeping bag that was still wrapped around her she was starting to feel a whole lot better about the situation. Of course she was going to have to exact vengeance for this upon Jamie, but her Padawan didn’t need to know about that. Not yet at the very least.

”Just…” Aela began with another shiver running down her spine. ”Need to get warm now.”

That was really all she wanted.

She yawned slightly, shifting and pushing herself a bit closer to the stove. ”Maybe some food.”

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I can get us something to eat if you're hungry."

The blonde shuffled over towards the backpacks once the tent was setup and stable. The small packs of food she'd packed for this trip were notably less nauseating than those of the Dxun trip. Thankfully, because if Jamie ever had to force herself to eat those again she might rather starve to death. "Your face was priceless, you know." She said, tearing open the packages. "The look you gave to me. I wish I had a picture of that." She wouldn't soon forget it, that was for sure.

"Just one of complete betrayal. Like I'd just revealed some sinister plot." Her eyes caught Aela watching her as she worked. "Was really quite funny I think."

Her hands dipped into the backpack once more, pulling free a small bag of berries that she'd purchased before the trip, a sort of treat to enjoy. They were then separated into two small groups, one for herself, and one for Aela. Standing she proceeded to walk over to where Aela was curled up on the ground and extended her hands in offering. "Here you go, my little icicle."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She stuck her tongue out at Jamie. "Just you wait."

Aela would eventually have her revenge for this. She wasn't entirely sure what, or when, but she would. Her memory was a long one, and she could strike when Jamie least expected this. Her padawan of course would claim that this act in it of itself was just payback for something that Aela had done herself. She frowned for a moment and then shook her head.

That was nonsense.

Slowly Aela plucked one of the berries out of the bag and began to eat it, though still resentful. "It's not funny."

"It was very cold." She said quietly. "Too cold."

Aela wasn't built for those temperatures. She could handle a little snow now and then, but Borleias was a temperate world, and she and her family had lived right on the equator. They had rarely gotten a day where it went below fifty degrees, and the water? The water had always been warm. This was just silly. She could still feel her ni-a huff escaped her lips.