Tied Together With A Smile

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie snickered, "It's alright looking, I guess. I'd give it a three out of five." Teasing Aela was fun. She almost considered it a sport.

Following suit her own bag was lowered the distance until she felt the slight knock on the rope, indicating the bag had touched down at the base of the cliff. She shrugged, wrapping her hand around the rope before backing off toward the edge. One foot stepped back, tightening her grip and making the rope taut. She then backed her way over the edge, slipping over the side while pushing her body a ways off so that she wasn't face to face with the cliff.

"Come on, get that three star ass over the edge."

At a steady pace it would take about twenty minutes to descend safely. Assuming the anchors didn't give way and drop them. Then the trip would be much shorter. Hopefully that wouldn't happen. Jamie was pretty conscientious about safety when it came to climbing.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela eased herself over the edge.

She figured that the best way to do this was slowly. There was no need to rush here, she could take as much time as she wanted. Jamie might get frustrated at her pace, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Aela clutched the rope, piece by piece giving her a bit more slack as they descended into the cavern.

"I wonder when the first time was someone came down here." Aela said, trying to keep herself distracted, stopping herself from looking down.

Her focus was kept on the rope ahead of her, eyes set in place.

A few times she accidentally gave too much slack, causing her to drop about a foot before coming to a sliding stop.

Each time that happened her eyes nearly bugged out of her head, stomach dropping as though she were about to puke.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I'm not sure, but this crater looks relatively old, so maybe a long time ago."

Jamie was used to this sort of thing. She was even paced, though a few times she watched as Aela came sliding past her. The first time she thought it was simply because Aela felt she was too far behind and wanted to catch up, though the second time it happened she realized the other girl was nervous, and was letting out at uneven intervals.

"Relax." She said, pausing beside the other girl. "Keep a fist, loosen and tighten it as you need it to brake and lower. You're trying to walk down the wall, you don't need to. It's unbalancing you." A warm smile tried to reassure Aela that she was doing fine. Rappelling was actually much easier than free climbing. Jamie would have done that here, but she wasn't exactly certain how experienced the other girl was with this sort of thing, and having never visited the cave before, wanted an idea for what it looked like first.

Perhaps next time she would free climb.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela frowned, but followed the instruction.

She wasn't uncomfortable with being told what to do, at least not when she didn't actually know what the proper way was. The Jedi Marshal readjusted herself, shifting slightly and going the rest of the way in the manner that Jamie had instructed her. She frowned slightly when they got closer to the bottom, her eyes quickly darting to the ground beneath her. Lips thinned as she pressed herself off one more time, sliding to the ground and then landing with a muted thud near where her bag dropped.

"There." Aela said as Jamie touched down beside here.

"That wasn't too hard." Her gaze drifted around them. "I think the climb up is going to be way more of a bother."

Probably a lot harder than the way down anyway.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie brushed off her legs and feet that had been partially covered with dirt from the descent, turning to Aela with a smile.

"And we didn't fall. That's good." She bent over, scooping up her bag and shouldering it quickly, before cracking her neck. "Up will be harder, but we don't need to worry about that right now. The hardest part will actually be navigating the cave to get to the underground lagoon. Tight spots and all." She glanced at Aela's clothing, "I hope you don't mind if those get stains or tears or whatnot. I don't know what to really expect inside."

Frequently she lost her boots when cave diving, mostly due to taking them off because they wouldn't fit in a foothold somewhere, and having no way to retrieve them after.

"But if you're ready," She pointed towards the opening on the opposite side of the cavern. "We can head inside there."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Maybe we should eat first?" Aela suggested.

They hadn't had lunch yet.

"If we don't know what to inspect inside." They had brought some freeze dried food, something that would need to be heated, but they also had a few warm ration packs. This time Jamie had apparently sprung for properly made outdoor food rather than the military rations they had the last time. "Now might be the best time."

Plus they would need energy if they were going to keep climbing.

She shrugged. "Unless you really want to keep going."

It was easy to admit that she herself was more than a little curious about what laid ahead.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The blonde stopped for a second, realizing she had completely forgotten about the suggestion to rest and eat. Probably due to her own excitement.

"Oh! Right!" Her hand slapped against her head. "Duh. Yes." She nodded. "Let's rest and eat." That was a good plan. Not knowing what to expect in the cave would make it harder to plan out when to rest to begin with. Better to do so now, with half the day behind them, than to wait until they were starving and in a tight spot to try and find a suitable place.

Kneeling down Jamie unzipped her pack and withdrew a canteen and a small pack containing a bit of the food.

"Here we go!" She said, sitting down with crossed legs to take a sip from the water.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela mimicked her student.

She took out almost exactly the same bit of food along with a canteen of water, though the packet of snacks she took out was colored blue instead of Jamie's green. She frowned for a moment, wondering if her Padawan had gotten the better munchie, but decided not to ask questions...for now. "Do you like this stuff?"

Aela asked.

"I mean I know you like seeing Sith ruins and such." That much was obvious. "But just general exploring too?"

It made Aela wonder how Jamie hadn't left Naboo earlier.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The blonde tipped back the canteen of water as Aela spoke, one eye squinting open to look at her, as if somehow that helped her hear.

Her head fell forward, pulling the metal away from her lips and wiping away the stray water with the back of her hand. "Mhm." She said simply.

"This was one of the few things I did back home for myself. When I had the time, or skipped out on schooling."

Her parents had never been enthused about that. Of course most of the time they didn't actually know she was doing it, but that was beside the point. After a few years of it she had become quite good at it, eventually taking a couple of training classes before leading a number of climbs on her own, mostly with younger kids on easier routes, though she had done a few challenging climbs before.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"I never went to school." Aela said with an odd sort of smile.

Her parents had homeschooled her.

For some that might have been seen as weird or a disadvantage, but considering that her father had at one point in time styled himself as the 'god of knowledge' of an entire sector of space, it really had worked out quite well. All four of the Talith kids were quite intelligent, though none of them were particularly gifted at Math...weird. She frowned for a moment and then shook her head slowly, as if trying to ignore the fact.

"Did you go to a private school?" For some reason she imagined there were plenty of those on Naboo.

The world was a bit posh after all.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Schools." Jamie corrected Aela. "One for primary education like sciences, mathematics, mannerisms of nobility and such. Another for ethics, law, and government." She began counting on her fingers. "Another for economics and trade. several for extracurricular activities like piano lessons, sewing, and sword fighting." Silence hung over them for a moment. "I think that's most of them." It wasn't all of them, but most.

Her life was relatively planned out for her before this whole Force business.

Had Jamie stayed on Naboo her life would have been a replica of her mothers. Marry into another noble house, have children, work in the courts, and that would be it. Thankfully she now had something else to occupy her time so that she wasn't quite as boring as her mother.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She beamed slightly. "That sounds fun!"

Aela had always enjoyed education.

Her siblings had always called her a nerd of some sort, a title that was well deserved. She had spent most nights within her own room either reading a book or doing some sort of research. Aela had always enjoyed that sort of thing. Her first big trip off-world without her parents had been to some Archives.

"I think I would've enjoyed school." The Jedi Marshall said with a smile. "My father always said that it was useless though."

She frowned.

Soliael had been rather critical of the curriculum of most of the academies on Borleias, and sending Aela off to boarding school had never been an option because...well her mother hadn't wanted it.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"It was...Busy." Jamie did like to be a kid, after all. And even though she liked to read and such, she found it smothering how her life had been planned every single day for her. "It was stressful and sometimes overwhelming. This was what I did to get away from all of that." She took a few bites of the granola in her hand. "This and fencing. Those were the only two things I did for myself. Everything else I was just born into."

She had gone to the best schools in Theed, had private instructors for certain things like piano, and always achieved honor grades. It was simply an expectation to do so. Most that were not born into her society believed she were simply a spoiled rich girl who sat around a giant house all day being pampered by servants while eating fancy meals and dressing up all pretty.

In fact it was often incredibly stressful.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela frowned to herself.

"What was the plan if you hadn't run away?" She asked. "More school?"

She imagined that was the normal thing for most people.

They went to school, learned to do something...perhaps law or politics, and then went into whatever they learned in school. Aela could have taken that line of life if she had wanted to, she doubted her parents would have stopped her doing anything if she really wanted to...but it was impossible to imagine. Perhaps it was because she wasn't ordinary, because she had always used the force, because he family was odd beyond all meaning of the word.

Jamie on the other hand? She hadn't even known she was a force user most of her life.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I would have been in studies until I was twenty-two, found someone to marry of similar nobility, and started a family."

The latter portion Jamie wanted nothing to do with. The whole have a child business wasn't for her right now. For a second her thought drifted to Kurt, who was having a child, or so it seemed. She sighed, though Aela would obviously know why. She didn't let the thought linger though, instead moving on quickly so not to depress herself needlessly.

"Nothing would have really changed for me, ever. Perhaps I would have been able to do the things I had to do in my own order, but they would still really be all decided for me, just by someone else instead." It was just a big circle of life.

She wanted to leave Naboo before she learned of the Force, but simply had no means to do so. Her parents had forbidden it.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"I see." She said quietly.

"So no politics then?" Aela asked. "Your family is noble, and Naboo was democratically elected rulers."

She knew that the current King was a good man, affiliated with the New Jedi Order, though Aela didn't know him personally. Still, he had a term of service, like every King or Queen had on Naboo. That meant eventually Jamie could have taken the slot.

"You're pretty good at it." She pointed out.

Perhaps that would have been a path for her padawawn, had she not found the force. "Though in hindsight. I'm rather glad you ran away."

She flashed Jamie a smile.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The blonde shrugged. "I have no desire to be queen, really."

It was nice job, to serve the people. Not for the power. "I serve the crown when I am home, though I don't wish for it to dictate my life. I would serve in other ways." Her hand patted her lightsaber at her side. "Protector? Guardian? Not sure what you'd call it. But I don't wish to be seen as a ruler, unless the people were to freely elect me. Even then," She laughed, thinking about it. "I think it would be surreal to me."

Her office as a member of the king's court was one of mostly press, She delivered his accords, spoke on his behalf when needed, but she was not looking to replace the man by any means.

"I'm much more suited to this lifestyle, and I think I can be better used as a protector of Naboo than a delegate, most of the time."

She returned Aela's smile with her own. "But yes, I'm glad too. It brought me you."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Some would argue that the Queen could be both." She told Jamie, her father would certainly say so.

"Protector and Delegate." It was idle talk really, nothing more, but the concept had amused her more than once. "My Grandmother sort of serves a roll like that back on Onderon, though she doesn't actually rule the planet."

Just half of it's people, the Beast Tribes.

"I think part of me has always liked the thought of ruling a word, seeing what it's like." She was pretty sure that every girl dreamed of being a princess or Queen at some point, even if they didn't want to admit it to themselves.

"Perhaps thats a bit..." She trailed off with a chuckle. "Sith."

Her grandfather had been Emperor of a dozen worlds, it was genetics probably.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I suppose." The blonde shrugged again. "Though can you imagine the stress of doing both? I don't know how the King manages the work he does."

She was certain if that were to be her job she would have several mental breakdowns, likely per day.

What she was doing now she could balance. When she was on Naboo she could do the work she needed to without the commitment of staying on world. She was free to travel with Aela, free to explore and see the galaxy. If she were queen she would likely need to be on Naboo much, much more than she was now, likely on a near permanent basis.

Jamie's mouth fell agape as if she were disturbed by Aela's comment, having discovered the girl's secret at long last.

"Sith!" She cried out, feigning a move to apprehend Aela by grabbing hold of the girl's arms, complete with the granola bar held in her mouth.

It was a very silly looking moment to say the least.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela smacked Jamie's hand away.

"Yes!" She cried. "I admit it!"

She feigned some darksidedness with her hands. "I've been a Sith all along. My plan to disrupt the Alliance and take over as Empress had been revealed and foiled."

Aela tipped back slightly.

"Curse youuuuu!" She joked with a smile.