Wind Stalking

[Avalore Eden]

"I am heading North," Ysan said as she pulled herself over the girth of a massive fallen tree, "towards the mountains to learn why they changed course. The clans will need to know," she gave a somber nod, eyes searching the horizon of the jungle canopy over which the very peaks of the mountains could just be seen.

"I cannot ask you to join me, One Known as Sarge," her eyes downcast, she turned them back to him, "but I would be happy if you did."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"Why can't you?", he asks, following after her by hopping onto the log and then jumping down over the other side. "I'm just a maleling, or something like that.", he remarks casually, wrapping his strange cloak tightly around himself in order to fade into the background as best he could.

 

[Avalore Eden]

Ysan canted her head at him, watching him curiously as his figured dissipated nigh completely from sight. By now she had picked up on certain cues to see him still, but only when she really concentrated on it.

"You are not. You are a freeman," she said after him, climbing down to step after him, "and my friend, not my maleling. I would no sooner ask of you than I would of the Clan Mothers. I am grateful for what is freely given."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"Ask away, Ysan. You are a person as much as I.", he responds lightly, knowing full well their customs. She could do as she pleased so far as he was concerned, although he knew it to be taboo for her to do so. The point still remained however, because she should know where he stood on the subject.

Motioning for her to lead, he pauses so she can get in front before following after her, eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of trouble. Nothing but trees and mountains met his eye, and so he simply smiled and trailed after the small Witch.

 

[Avalore Eden]

The Windtalker looked to her companion unsmiling, allowing a long breath to pass through her nose. Everything with him was different, everything was strange. In a way Ysan felt she was betraying the traditions within which she was raised, but there was no spurning the curiosity from her. She had been raised to be curious, to seek out the unknown, to see things in a way that the Clans did not. But how different was too different, she wondered, and how far was too far?

She took the lead on tenterhooks and waited until they hit flat trail, away from the carnage of the beasts new path, and paused for a moment to look and listen.

"It is a long journey to the mountains," her voice was a low thought merely spoke aloud, but she did turn to look where Sarge appeared behind her, his face still visible over a barely-there figure, "will ... will you tell me of the worlds you have visited?"

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

The somber man gave a shallow nod as they began their trek towards the mountains and their peaks. With a bit of a smile, he slowly began to speak, words spinning a tale of worlds she'd never seen. From Alderaan's snow-capped peaks to the barren deserts of Tatooine, the industrial wastes of Fondor to the Sith Temples of Korriban.

He'd been to most every planet in his time, and to cover them all would be exhausting... but she had asked, and so he would give.

 

[Avalore Eden]

Ysan made few interruptions as he spoke and the pair traveled to the quiet din of his voice as it flexed and folded over events of his past. She listened with rapt attention, imagining the scenery of his tales by piecing together the lands of Dathomir into a new scape. Some places, such as a a planet of ice, were beyond her scope. Others, like the swamps of Myrkr, weren't far from the mires to the west.

They traveled into the thick jungles set at the base of the mountains, following the wake of destruction left behind by the rancors. At mid day Ysan stopped to hunt and happily listened to the man as he spoke of the Darkside Temples on Korriban while their meal cooked. By the time they set off again his words shifted from the mysterious and arcane to the technologically advanced city-planet Coruscant.

Night time crept in just as Sarge finished speaking of a small, peaceful planet called Naboo and that was where his stories ended. Now the nightlife was alive around them it was in their best interest to move quietly. The jungle thinned as they reached a ravine where they paused at the precipice of the high high wall and looked down to the bottom nearly thirty feet below.

"Ages ago this was once a riverbed," Ysan said while the jungle insects hummed and chirped at her back, "but it dried long ago when the rains would not fall. The rancors have used it as their passage through the mountains for decades..." the Windtalker's voice trailed off as she looked towards the west where the ravine followed the base of the mountain out towards the last vestiges of the day's sun.

A low, distant call sounded from beyond.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

A days travel was a days travel, and as the last bloody vestiges of light disappeared on the horizon, they reached what he hoped was close to their destination. As much as he enjoyed her company, going out of his way to do things was often something that grated on his nerves. He'd never quite been sure why that was; likely, it had to do with efficiency.

"So... we've got something setting up shop here that shouldn't be?" He really, truly hoped it wasn't some kind of a krayt dragon, because, well, he hated those things. Wildlife was diverse here, and he still wasn't sure how many species of animal there were around here. But he guessed he was about to find out.

"Let's move in quietly, see what we can see."