Private What the Dog Doing?

[Aadihr Lidos]

WATCH THE DOG

Outfit: Clothes, Earring, Bangle
Weapons: Walking stick / Lightsaber Pike

The planet was quiet. Unusually so.

It had no strategic value, no ancient ruin whispering from beneath the soil, no Sith cult simmering just beyond the next town over. The most dangerous thing in sight was a patch of uneven paving stones — and perhaps, the oversized canid currently rocketing down the footpath like a beast possessed.

Aadihr stood at the edge of a small orchard, barefoot, with his robes dusted by petals and pollen. One hand rested calmly on his walking stick; the other cradled a mug of something gently steaming. He tilted his head slightly as the breeze shifted — tracking the disturbance in the Force with the same ease one might follow the tide.

The dog has doubled back. Again.

Somewhere out of view, shouting. A skid of claws. Laughter, maybe. Or alarm. Hard to tell. He sipped his tea.

They were meant to be resting. That was the assignment: rest. No debriefs. No meditations. No weapons. Just… a shared day off. It had taken significant Jedi Council wrangling — and perhaps a small bribe of baked goods — to get all three of them reassigned to the same shore-leave rotation.

Now, a chaos of fur, leash, and tactical instinct was unfolding in the distance.

Aadihr smiled. This would be the first time he properly met Buster – if he could catch up to the Aak Dog.

"Let me guess..." he murmured aloud, not to anyone in particular, "...he saw a squirrel."

He made no move to intervene. Not yet. He would wait until someone called for help, or until the dog found his way back with an offering of a half a tree or someone’s unattended lunch, or something.

The orchard rustled again. Somewhere nearby, another voice approached.

Drystan Creed | Connel Vanagor​

 

[Connel Vanagor]

Dude, where’s my dog?
LOCATION
Orchard

It is not often you will see Connel Vanagor actually meditating, truth is that he hated it. Sure, it cleared the mind and brought a sense of peace, but so did katas, so did running an obstacle course. Truth be told, Connel was just built differently that way, and that was not a poke at his cybernetics. It also made him feel like he was missing something else. Like something was about to happen that he could not prevent.

TLDR: Connel hates meditation.

In this self fulfilling prophecy, there was something else that was missing. Normally someone would use his lap as a pillow right now.

Opening eyes. His single word was simple, but pointed. Buster?

@Aadhir Lidos • Drystan Creed​

 

[Drystan Creed]

ORCHARD

Despite the activity unfolding around him, Drystan remained unbothered. He wore a tight-fitting pink collared shirt, a pair of khakis, and some unassuming loafers to match. He tugged at the collar—finding it a bit too tight for his liking. Normally, he would've opted for a breathable robe or a form-fitting jumpsuit. Casual clothing wasn't something he was used to.

Trips like these were foreign to the Shadow. Even when he rested, it was for a purpose: to recover from grievous injuries or recuperate after an intense training regimen. Relaxation for its own sake was... unfamiliar territory.

He watched as the hound sprinted through the orchard, head tilting slightly. Falling in behind the other two Jedi, he brought up the rear, eventually catching up with them.

"I'm sure that canine knows better than to wander too far from the hand that feeds him," he said, almost as if reasoning aloud—trying to justify letting the dog vanish over the horizon.

"Right?"

Aadihr Lidos Connel Vanagor

 

[Aadihr Lidos]

AFTERMATH IN HIS WAKE

Outfit: Clothes, Earring, Bangle
Weapons: Walking stick / Lightsaber Pike

There were no leaves rustling. No breeze shifting. No local wildlife scattering in warning.

There was only the sound of disaster approaching at full gallop.

Aadihr didn’t flinch as the blur passed him — just a ripple in the Force and the thunder of paws on packed dirt. He turned his head slowly, already tracking the shape: large, four-legged, determined, and rapidly gaining a full compliment of accessories.

Trailing behind Buster now was a bed sheet, two pairs of modest undergarments, and someone’s laundered linen shirt.

A clothesline. Of course.

Somehow Buster did not slow. He accelerated as if the fluttering of fabric behind him was some form of aerodynamic enhancement. Aadihr’s Far-seeing followed the motion as it veered past a merchant’s spice stall around a street corner at the edge of the orchard looped under a hanging fruit canopy, and then—

He’s circling back.

Aadihr exhaled. Then, as if preparing to face a charging rancor, he spoke:

“He’s heading back this way now.”

The sheet flapped majestically behind the animal like a cape. The shirt caught on a bush. The undergarments sailed through the air with a certain tragic dignity before landing squarely on a bystander’s hat.

Aadihr barely had time to react with the zooming canine. He slept, grabbing onto the clothesline to try to assist.

"I think if we can grab his leash-"

Aadihr realized his mistake only after he was pulled horizontal, skidding behind buster like another garment on the clothesline.

The Gallinorese Aak Dog's momentum didn't even register the additional weight.
.

Drystan Creed | Connel Vanagor​

 

[Connel Vanagor]

Dude, where’s my dog?
LOCATION
Orchard

There he is.

He was bored, antsy… and getting into mischief. That meant one thing. Pip was around, and that meant Ryana was too. She was on an undercover assignment, so Connel’s Padawan had not always been around, and thus Pip was often without companionship, as was Buster.

Buster! He let out a whistle. The pup stopped, looked up and then down as if knowing he was in trouble. Slowly slinking over in front of him, Connel’s stance softened immediately as he knelt down and accepted Buster’s apology by scratching him behind the ear.

It’s okay. I miss them too. Buster looked up as if Connel understood, and went to lick his face, but the Shadow grabbed his “cape” and gave it back to the angry woman approaching. Oddly enough, that was Buster’s cue to take off again, Aadhir’s grip on his leash or not.

Look for a Racyon… a little one with a white patch over the eye. [/COLOR]

@Aadhir Lidos • Drystan Creed ​

 

[Drystan Creed]

ORCHARD

Drystan raised an eyebrow as the interaction unfolded. He was about to step in before Buster was halted by a whistle. He took note of the silent exchange between his fellow Shadow and the canine, but did little beyond that.

A Racyon? And a strangely specific description, at that. Drystan raised an eyebrow again. He hadn't seen such a creature in the area, nor was he sure they were native to this habitat.

"A bit detailed on the descriptor there," he remarked to Connel. "I haven't seen or sensed anything of the sort since I arrived."

Still, he didn't hesitate to follow, taking off in the dog's general direction.

Keeping up with the terrain posed no challenge. Drystan moved with fluid ease, his expression calm—almost as if he were on a brisk walk rather than in active pursuit. He kept a respectful distance and made no effort to rein in the dog. Instead, his eyes scanned the surrounding area, ensuring nothing blocked Buster's path while also searching—just in case—for the creature Connel had described.

He didn't expect to find it.

But then again, he also hadn't expected to spend his afternoon watching a dog tear through an orchard in a simulated hunt.

And strangely, he didn't mind it. It was the sort of thing he never would've made time for in the past.

Odd, indeed.

Aadihr Lidos Connel Vanagor

 

[Aadihr Lidos]

Outfit: Clothes, Earring, Bangle
Weapons: Walking stick / Lightsaber Pike

Aadihr was a great many things.

Patient. Centered. Capable of absorbing blaster fire with his bare hands.

He was not, however, aerodynamic.

The dirt-slick groove he'd carved through the orchard path had now filled with petals and one sock (not his). He sat upright with as much grace as a man possibly could while still wearing someone else's shirt draped across his shoulder like a ceremonial sash. He didn’t remove it. That would’ve suggested this was out of the ordinary.

The dog let him go, at least.

From the far side of the orchard came a rustling, then a yelp, and then—impossibly—the sound of barking laughter.

Aadihr tilted his head.

There are two signatures now. One light-footed. The other heavier. Not human.

Connel’s voice reached his ears in time with the leash snapping taut and the galloping resuming. Aadihr reached out with his senses—and caught a flicker:

A streak of white and grey, low to the ground, bolting between crates and fruit carts with surgical disrespect for personal property.

“Found your Racyon,” he called out to no one in particular as he dusted himself off, “...and I think Buster has decided to become its Jedi instructor.”

The chase turned down a side street. Someone screamed. A barrel of pickled vegetables overturned.

Aadihr sighed, lifted his walking stick, and started after them—at a dignified, defeated jog.

Somewhere ahead, he was reasonably sure Drystan was tracking like a Shadow and thinking like a Temple Guard, and Buster was doing exactly what Master Ooruk once described as "an enlightened chaos maneuver."

This was a training exercise.

It was a hunt.

It was—at this point—an entire moral allegory with a leash.

“I hope one of you brought treats,” Aadihr called ahead, “or we’re going to end this day with a diplomatic incident and at least one wedding veil on fire.”

He paused. His sight swept ahead again.

Three signatures now. Buster. The Racyon. And someone... in pursuit of both? No—herded. He's herding us again.

Aadihr smiled faintly, shaking his head.

“This is not rest.”

But it was something.

Drystan Creed | Connel Vanagor​

 

[Connel Vanagor]

Dude, where’s my dog?
LOCATION
Orchard

Whatever comes of this, anything bad is on me. Don’t worry. He didn’t like the thought of another, one he did not recognize being out there too. Pip did not really have much of a Force aura, more really for the bond between he and Ryana more than anything.

Buster come back here! It was more a call out that he was still there if the pup needed him more than a command. Connel knew that it would fall on deaf ears if it were anything else. So he let it go. Pulling out a bag of treats, Connel was always prepared.

Me not having food? How long have you known me?[COLOR] A simple smirk. Let’s do this.

@Aadhir Lidos • Drystan Creed​

 

[Drystan Creed]

ORCHARD

Drystan continued his trailing pursuit, moving along to see where Buster would end up. He saw Connel and Aadihr giving chase as well.

Perfect. With those three, they would be able to control the chaos before them. Drystan tapped into his communicator, patching into what he remembered were the channels to contact the other two knights—hoping they had brought their communicators too.

"Let's keep this clean and end it quick. I can guide Buster. Connel, you're on treat duty—be ready, I'm sending him your way if things go right. Aadihr, you're better at tracking smaller things—secure that Racyon if it's here."

It was a sound plan, especially considering it was drawn up on the spot in just a few seconds. But quick thinking was within the realm of Jedi—more so for Shadows.

True to his word, Drystan picked up the pace, this time keeping stride with Buster. Despite the elevated terrain, he managed to keep up well enough to lead and divert the playfully rampaging hound. Thankfully, this wasn't a massive kaiju from those Atrisian holovids, so the damage was more inconvenient than catastrophic.

He felt a bit guilty about how comfortable he was with this. It felt more like a mission than relaxation, and that was the normal for him. They should be relaxing but a small part of him was relieved to be back to something he considered to be "normal".

Aadihr Lidos Connel Vanagor

 

[Aadihr Lidos]

Outfit: Clothes, Earring, Bangle
Weapons: Walking stick / Lightsaber Pike

The communicator crackled in his ear with Drystan’s voice, professional and clear.

Aadihr blinked slowly. It had the tone of a briefing.

Mission parameters... for a Force-sensitive laundry thief and an unsupervised Aak Dog.

He mused to himself.

“Copy. Target: Racyon. Objective: Nonlethal detainment and moral enlightenment.”

He said it dryly, keeping his mirth at the situation out of the tone.

The orchard parted ahead, revealing a narrow alley lined with low baskets, some garden tools, and—most notably—a long wooden beam balanced precariously across two crates. Perched directly in the center of that beam was the Racyon.

It was adorable. And perhaps smug? Aadihr wasn't sure how to read the Racyon's Aura, with the bond it shared with someone else, perhaps. It was entirely too aware of how hard it was to reach.

Aadihr narrowed his focus and gave the most cautiously heroic little hop he’d managed in years.

First crate. Second crate. Beam.

Then he immediately began to regret it.

Oh no. This is… not balanced.

He teetered.

The Racyon made a delighted chirp and sprinted down the beam. Aadihr attempted to follow.

He made it two steps.
The beam dipped.
Then tilted.

Then the entire structure collapsed into a pile of splinters and he landed into one very betrayed-looking cart of Meiloorun fruits. ( Mea Lorin ?)

Aadihr emerged a moment later with a fruit paste on each shoulder, his robes considerably stickier, and the faint, unshakable awareness that someone had definitely planned this.

“Are they herding us into the gardens?” Aadihr called, brushing meiloorun pulp from his sleeve. “I’m... Er... diverting to intercept. Eventually.”

The Racyon darted again, this time up a trellis.

So agile. So smug.

He looked toward the direction of Connel and Drystan, then exhaled.

“I rescind my earlier statement. This is rest. This is exactly what rest feels like..."

Drystan Creed | Connel Vanagor​

 

[Mea Lorin]

A loud, shrill voice called out from the side of the collapsed cart,
"My meilooruns!!!"

EXIT
(OOC, I was asked to give a quick drop in for this and will be on my way. If any of you want more meiloorun cart in this thread, just give me a tag!)​

 

[Connel Vanagor]

Dude, where’s my dog?
In an
Orchard

PIP! He yelled out at his Padawan’s racyon, knowing full well the “little hellion” as he liked to call the little monster was not going to simply stop.

You want grapes? I got grapes! He was yelling out, but in a way, tracking them. When Pip was like this, he wanted you to see him, but be just out of reach. A great friend to Buster, but definitely a bad influence. Running along the side of the orchard, he was following the trail the best he could, yelling out to either get them to come to him, which he knew would never work, or see where they were leading him.

"My meilooruns!!!"

Frak! A simple sigh, he walked over to help her. I’m sorry about this. I can pay for the damages. Were his eyes deceiving him (which by lore, they can do), or did Pip and Buster pop up into sight?[/COLOR]

@Aadhir Lidos • Drystan Creed ​