Ask Adventures In Jakku

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra didn’t understand why every mission involved some extreme weather. It was either some biting cold ice planet, or blistering heat like here on Jakku. He and several other padawans were sent here to inspect some old remnants of Imperial assets. It all sounded sketch to Ezra, but he had signed up to be a Jedi so he would go where sent.

He walked off the ramp of his transport, the others arriving in their own. As usual, Ezra was in designer clothing, opting for a casual look. The shirt had a few buttons open to reveal his defined chest (the sun was hot, okay?), his kyber crystal necklace hanging over it. He had some expensive shades on, along with a leather chrono and a pack to carry supplies. Of course, he also had an electrosword as his primary weapon. This time he even opted to back the bowcaster he found on Kashyyyk.

Unlike usual, Ezra didn’t start marching off into the mission. He would wait for the others to arrive before venturing out. For now, he pulled up his NalPhone and began to scroll through Limmie updates.

@Wit @Malon @LadyRen

 

[Cirilla Shan]

Ciri didn't own any clothing that would suit the dry, dusty, all consuming heat of Jakku. She had been fully prepared to show up for the mission in her regular clothing, dark, bulky, and comfortable as they tended to be. But mere hours before she was supposed to depart, her mother had caught wind of things and had planted herself at her dorm room door, refusing to let her leave as she was least she die of a heatstroke. The fact that the woman was a lawyer, had an education that most in the Galaxy could only dream about, and was smarter than Ciri herself could ever dream to be, meant nothing when overshadowed by her motherly instincts to worry. She didn't care that black was a perfectly okay color to wear in the heat, or that in some instances it was even better than lighter shades. All she knew was that her secretary's neighbor's son's mother-in-law had gone to Tatooine wearing a black scarf and had died of heat-stroke.

So, she had dug out an entirely new outfit for her to wear on the mission, one that made her almost physically sick to be wearing. Her mother claimed that she had borrowed some of the items from @Liana Mason, but Ciri had the feeling that most of it was from her own wardrobe. She also had a bag that her mother had packed some sandwiches, energy bars, and drinks into, and also held Ciri's training saber.

So, as the commercial shuttle that she booked a flight on to Jakku dropped her off, she started walking around to look for the others, but there was also a more urgent agenda on her mind. Her eyes darted around in the hopes of finding a clothing store where she could change into something more comfortable before the mission started. But that was not to be, because before she could spot a store, she spotted Ezra. The frown on her face deepening, she walked over to the newly inducted Jedi, and glared at him as she spoke up. The look on her face daring him to comment on her clothes.

"I was looking for a gaggle of fangirls or reporters to track you down, looks like joining the Order is already doing wonders for your popularity."

@Sreeya @Malon @LadyRen

 

[Kieran Nomar]

Kieran sometimes wondered why his Master hated him. She got to go meet Emryc Thorne and deal with a Sith Lord and he got stuck roaming around the desert with Emryc's discounted clone and a girl who looked like she had been plucked right out of an outlet mall on the outskirts of Nar Shaddaa. Sure, their mission was to go and check out an observatory left behind by some old dead Sith Lord and retrieve its contents, but it was hardly lightsaber training or learning a new Force power, both of which Kaisa had denied him since they were paired together by the Council.

He arrived dressed for the desert, wearing a light fabric desert clothes complete with goggles he could wear over his eyes should the wind pick up and produce a sand squall. He never could understand why people lived on worlds like this. Sure, his native Taris had been hellish, but at least they had regulated weather. There was only one type of weather they would find around here.

Sand. And he hated sand.

Arriving last at the rendezvous, he perched himself on a wrecked AT-AT above Ezra and Cirilla and announced his presence only after Cirilla had made her remarks. "You know a planet sucks when even those paparazzi vultures won't follow the most famous kid in the galaxy to it," he remarked dryly. He threw Ezra a half smile and a welcoming salute. "I'm Kieran, by the way. Sorry I missed your welcoming party. My Master had me polishing the floors at the Ithor temple, and anyways the press gives me the hives."

@Sreeya @Wit

 

[Liana Mason]

Liana had absolutely no problems with the heat and the dry air on Jakku! She found this new planet fascinating and was eager to explore it even if they were on a set mission. She was overly happy as her best friend @Cirilla Shan was with her! And then she had also received the news that had made her day even better!!

@Ezra Thorne was attending as well! He had just recently joined the Order as a padawan and she had been there at the moving day, yet ever since, she hadn't seen the other padawan again. OMG HE WAS A PADAWAN JUST LIKE HER! And this was exactly why she was just sooo sooo happy! She would see him more often and this after they've gotten such good friends on Coruscant!!

Her master dropped her off to meet the others and also told her that another padawan was supposes to join them, making them a whole padawan squad!! That was just soooo exciting and she couldn't wait, hence she was joyfully frolicking as she made her way over to the rest - however not in slomo, as this was actually a fun way to get around quickly - and she was not minding any of the confused glances she was receiving.

Clad in a very cute outfit that was at least matching the colors of their environment, she was just sooo happy to see Ciri wearing the absolute cutes clothes!! "Awwww, Ciri you look so sweet!", she greeted her bestie as bubbly as ever, excitedly wrapping her arms around her neck. She had obviously not missed that there was a weirdly dressed boy with them who sounded very negative and she was a little worried about him, however, she greeted him super friendly as always. "Hey! I'm Lia! It's so nice to meet you!", she too, wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him for a moment before she pulled back. It was good that she was a turbo-hugger. This way, strangers usually couldn't escape quickly enough.

She had obviously noted that Ezra was there already, too, however she had read some teen holomagazines that had told her that such cool boys like him often prefered calmer girls, so she was trying to play it cool. Her plan absolute backfired though as she spotted his newly grown stubble and her mouth actually flapped right open as she mumbled a bit of nonsense. "Omg there'sthe. Eh. Ah. Ezra! Omg! I- wasn't, uh, haven't seen you for quite a bit! You look so damn ho- honorable! As a ...padawan! This...padawan aura suits you!", omg omg omg Lia noooo! What are you doing girl?! Why the hell did it almost slip out that he was looking UNBELIEVABLY HOT?! in order to seem as though acting normal, she hugged him too, however he was even taller than the new padawan and so even on tiptoes she couldn't fully get her arms around his neck.

@Wit @Sreeya @Malon

 

[Cirilla Shan]

Ciri saw the new arrival, and immediately felt the need to steal his clothes. That would have been so much better, why couldn't it have been her father who insisted on being the parent today, at least he had some sense.

"I'm Ciri." She introduced herself simply, before going into alert mode as she was suddenly engulfed by unexpected arms. There was only one person she willingly let hug her, her mother, and that was because she had persistently worn her down over the course of her entire life. Even her father knew how uncomfortable she felt with such displays of affection and respected her wishes. If only everyone was more like him.

She almost lashed out, as she would against a would be attacker, but thankfully the hug was accompanied by a voice she did recognize. She nodded in greeting to Liana, her irritation escalating when she realized that even she was dressed in a more subdued manner than Ciri herself. So it was not a good recipe of emotions that were bouncing around in her head when she saw Liana make a complete fool of herself in front of the others. Even if they weren't all standing in a somewhat tight group, Ezra was sure to have heard all that with those sharp ears of his. So she did the only thing she could for the girl.

She punched her.

She didn't really put her weight behind her, so it wasn't a nose shattering punch, but it would be hard enough to send a shock through her system, rebooting whatever was going on in cotton-candy infested brain of hers. At the same time she pulled out a small juice carton from her bag and held it out for Liana.

"Drink. Stay hydrated or heat stroke will melt your brain, we need to stay sharp if we don't want this to be our last unsupervised mission. This way."

With that she turned around and started walking, leading the way through the settlement in the general direction of the site they were supposed to visit.

@Sreeya @Malon @LadyRen

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra looked up as Ciri approached him, wearing an eyesore of an outfit. He stared at her quietly as she quipped about his popularity, “Planning to parachute your way into the imperial compound?” He asked as his gaze flicked down to her pants. Next he was approached by a padawan he hadn’t met yet. This one appeared to show up wrapped in his bedsheets, and clearly a sense of fashion also seemed to give him hives. Ezra gave a simple jut of his chin as a greeting.

That was when his ears twitched the slightest bit as Lia’s shrill voice rang out. He winced as she barged in, first hugging Ciri and then moving to throw her arms around him. He had a low tolerance for people touching him and had just barely allowed her to grab his hand in the past. Ezra took a step back to dodge the hug attack, but was shocked when Ciri whirled in with a punch.

For a moment, he blinked in surprise. Ezra’s gaze flicked over to Kieran, wondering if it was too late to back out of this mission. However, he focused back on Ciri, watching as she casually brought out a juice pack for Lia moments after socking her.

“You really need to get your shit together,” He said dryly to Ciri, stepping in between her and Lia, “We could run into bullshit on this mission and we don’t want to deal with your unstable self popping one of us in the face during it.”

Ezra then turned to look at Lia, “And you need to stop acting like a fucking toddler. People don’t like being touched, and the giggling and sunshine shit isn’t cute. You’re a grown girl and a Jedi, start acting like it.”

He gazed ahead, “Now both of you put your big girl panties on and let’s go,” He said gruffly before he started walking ahead. He fell into step beside Kieran, who was probably equally as worthless. Nearly every mission he did turned to chaos, and he had no faith in his comrades this time.

@Malon @Wit @LadyRen

 

[Kieran Nomar]

Yep.

Kaisa definitely hated him.

This ragtag group of misfits were more likely to get each other killed than find and gut any old Sith observatory. Still, a mission was a mission, and if Kieran went back to Ithor now, Kaisa would string him up by his earlobes and leave him to hang for a week. He needed to prove he was making progress. He supposed getting along with these three might prove that.

He decided to stick by Ezra. Well, 'decided' was a strong word. More like Ezra walked up next to him and Kieran didn't move. He wasn't sure how he felt about the Order's latest celebrity yet. At least his outfit was appropriate, even if the open-button shirt and exposed chest were a bit... distracting. Whatever. The desert was going to wreak havoc on all of them by the end of this, so no use getting fixated on appearances.

"I saw a group of blurrg over the dunes on my way in," he remarked, which was probably the first vaguely helpful thing anyone had said. "So unless you girls are going to continue rolling about in the sand, I suggest we got wrangle us each one. I don't fancy walking the rest of the way." Especially, not now.

And, without waiting for permission, Kieran was off, cursing every time his boots sank into a weak point in the sand. The nearest dune was tall enough to see for miles. Off in the distance, the remains of an old Imperial Star Destroyer dominated the horizon like a bit metal mountain. Dozens of smaller dunes filled the bland space between it and them; and just on the other side of their own were the blurrgs, just as he said.

He used a hand to shield his eyes from the blazing sun. "The Force makes taming those things a bit easier, right?"

He was sure hoping it did. @Wit @Sreeya @LadyRen

 

[Liana Mason]

Lia was many things, positive above everything else, but she had no idea what was literally about to hit her. Young love was complicated and the blonde bubbly Jedi wqw known to catch crushes fast, however she had not expected to be physically hit by Ciri after she had briefly lost composure over Ezra's new, much more mature and admittedly dashing looks...

However when it happened, she loudly gasped before she stared at Ciri wide-eyed for a moment. How could her best friend do that?! She wanted to force-blast her away for a moment, asking her what had just gotten into her, but then she realized that her bestie was actually known for having a few problems and maybe this heat was already getting under her skin. Liana could become feisty if she had to, but she decided against it, her demeanor turning from shock to a subtle hint of disappointment. It was still a move rather unnecessary, even if she didn't punch that hard. Maybe it would leave a soft bruise on her face, but she decided not to dwell on that. She'd remember though...

She still stared at her as Ezra stepped in, glancing at him with a mixture of confusion and admiration as he at least mamanged to solve that little conflict like an adult the teens apparently desperately needed. After glaring at Ciri for a moment, she directed her gaze towards the horizon and started marching, slightly rubbing her face. His words were hurtful...but he too was just a hurt soul, wasn't he? She didn't take any offenses as he was right about one thing: they had to focus on the mission.

Her spiritis were dulled after that incident though. Her eyes didn't sparkle as usual, her head held slightly lower than usual and that exuberant bubbliness was not existent for now. Silence was rare for the padawan, yet she needed some time to reflect. It seemed like her travel group needed her to adapt a little indeed. "Yes...Blurrgs might be a good idea. In case you haven't done this before, I'm pretty good with animals. I can show you...". Her voice wasn't as shrill as usual and there was an uncommon quietness in her demeanor.

@Sreeya @Wit @Malon

 

[Cirilla Shan]

Ciri didn't apologize, it wasn't a hard enough hit to hurt her, and it probably did what needed to be done. Liana wasn't making a fool of herself in front of Ezra anymore, and as Ciri herself didn't much care what any of the others thought of her the attention being diverted to her was probably helping Liana seem more normal as well, so in her books they were already even. The punch had been a break-even solution.

"Jedi don't wear underwear." She replied blandly to Ezra's comment as she started walking as well, her shorter stride meaning the boys started pulling ahead. Having already pulled out the juice carton, she proceeded to open it and start sipping on the cool drink. Spotting Liana rubbing her face as she began walking, she pulled out a bacta patch from her bag and while walking along sipping her juice she casually sent the patch floating through the air and into one of the other girl's pockets. She hadn't changed her mind about whether the punch was the right way to react, but she did know that is was very unlikely that Liana had packed a patch. And despite what Ezra might think, she had no intention of screwing over the mission. If Liana was going to fuss over her face then Ciri had a responsibility to fix that.

As they approached the blurrgs, Ciri's eyes narrowed. She wasn't particularly good with animals, she had no problem with them, but they seemed to have a problem with her. So as she approached a blurrg, she made a point to be extra cautious. Which didn't make any difference as the moment she reached out with a hand to try and touch the beast's face, it let out a violent sneeze and sent her tumbling back onto her ass. Landing on the sand, covered in blurrg snot, she just sat there for a second or two as dust and sand started to dance around her, sticking to her face and clothes where the snot had provided it free real estate. She tried to stay calm, pushing down on the anger that was trying to bubble over, till she tried to get back to her feet. She planted a hand on the ground to get back to her feet, only for it to land in something warm and unpleasant. She turned to the side, seeing her hand sitting smack dab in the middle of some blurrg poop. That was when the dams finally broke, and she just started laughing, the absurdity of the situation finally getting the better of her.

@Sreeya @Malon @LadyRen

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Blurrg. Why the hell did Ezra always get stuck riding stupid animals everywhere? Between Dash (@Alhon) making him ride uncooperative goats and this, his patience was wearing thing. He kicked himself for not trying to bring his Razorfin. However, apparently temple protocols said he couldn’t bring his entire arsenal of vehicles wherever he went. This whole poor Jedi thing was getting on his nerves.

Ezra walked over towards a blurrg, grimacing at the smell. Like he did on Rhinnal, he took out his cologne and spritzed the blurrg a few times because he refused to smell its stench the whole way. The beast dumbly grunted in response but otherwise kept its opinion to itself. As Ezra began to wrangle one of them, it was revealed that only two of them had riding gear on them. This meant they were stuck sharing.

Why did the Force curse him so?

He hoisted himself up on one, almost sliding off its back at first. Ezra glanced over to spot Lia and Ciri. He caught Ciri playing in literal shit and laughing. He quickly looked at Kieran, “Get on. Now.”

With any luck, they would get over the theatrics and make their way towards the old destroyer. Perhaps there was something interesting to explore there.

@Malon @Wit @LadyRen

 

[Kieran Nomar]

Kieran... was not sure what he was watching. Moments ago, if he had to guess who he would be trundling through the desert with, he would have assumed Liana. At least she had a personality. Now, though, between the girl playing with shit and the one who had gone from bubbly to glum in less than three seconds, he was glad Ezra had throne him a bone and offered him the ass of his blurrg.

"Yeah, I'll, um... Coming," he stuttered, hoisting himself atop the walking-face's posterior.

The only problem then became where his hands went. He had no handlebars, and the blurrg was to mucus-y for him to just rest his hands on its hide. He could almost hear Kaisa laughing at him. Hell, he half-expected to find out she had set this up. He hesitated, then gingerly put his hands on Ezra's waist. Only to find his comfort erased by the sudden annoying realization that he couldn't see. The taller boy was like a wall of muscle between him and the sunlight.

Well, he guessed. At least it's shade.

"The observatory is supposed to be over the ridge behind the Star Destroyer," he said as the blurrg started off. Kieran only briefly looked back to see if the girls were still coming, but he doubted Ezra cared much whether they were keeping pace. "Been decades since the place was used. I really hope we don't have to dig it out of the sand." He hand't even considered the possibility until now; but he was already tired just imagining it. And that was when another thought occurred to him. "Who is your Master, anyways? Did they assign you someone?"

@Sreeya @Wit @LadyRen

 

[Liana Mason]

Blurrgs were cool in a way as their body literally consisted of a phase and a tail and that was about it. As Lia loved animals and usually bot along with them as well, her mood lightened a little as they approached the little herd of Blurrgs, however Ezra's words and Ciri's punch were still not forgotten. She was still thankful for the bacta pad and the juice she offered and found it actually very kind and caring of her friend, traits she usually didn't exhibit too often.

She was definitely not as bubbly as before or usual, but that was not just caused by their little conflict, but mainly because she wanted to approach the interesting creatures calmly and so she kept her energy all calm and warm. Ciri was at the one Blurrg faster than she was, and her "Ciri, wait" came a little late.

The other padawan hadn't reacted quickly enough or assessed the Blurrg wrongly, and so the next disaster struck. First, she was hurled back and Lia stared at her in shock, before she even found herself covered in snot and a little dung. Poor Ciri...

Lia had no reason to hold a grudge, so she immediately moved over to her and offered her a wet wipe from her bag. Why did she have them? Did you ever eat a sugar waffle covered with chocolate sauce and spinkles and not found your hands a little covered in it? Lia was not running in such a fiasco again. She offered one wipe, however immediately offered her the whole package as she saw where she was covered in...Blurrg' excretions.

Ezra had already mounted a Blurrg and so it was Lia's time to show what she was really good at and where her positive energy was apparently not meeting solid walls..."It's okay little friend, we won't harm you. We're just taking you on a little adventure", she softly told the Blurrg that eyed her curiosly as she gently approached it, offering it a hand to sniff and using the Force to radiate calmness and warmth. The Blurrg blinked a slowly turned, making in easier for her to assess the stirrup, but she gently touched the side of his face first, which the creature accepted.

She then swung herself up, a soft smile back at her lips, before she offered Ciri a hand to pull herself up, insisting on her to hoist herself up as they needed to save some resources. "Okay, let's head out. Ezra is right". They had to start moving and qccomplish their goals or else they wouldn't be sent on unsupervised missions again. They caught up with the boys while they were engaged in their conversation, Lia only catching the last part.

@Sreeya @Wit @Malon

 

[Cirilla Shan]

Accepting the wipes from Liana with a nod, Ciri proceeded to clean herself as best as she could. But no matter how hard she tried, no matter how many wipes she used, the smell persisted. After a while she started wondering how long it would take before she would stop noticing the stink that was spreading from her and her clothes.

By then Liana had managed to tame the beast, and the boys were already on their way. Still a little bemused and amused by the situation, she gave the creature one last look, as if promising it payback in the near future, and accepted the offered hand to jump onto the beast.

"He's not." She said in response to Liana's comment as they started moving to catch up. "Your way might not be right for me, or for him, but that does not mean it's wrong." She was still trying to wipe the smell from her hands, and after giving her palm one last sniff, she gave up and put the wipes away. "Just maybe tone things down a little." She didn't completely miss the fact that the same could be applied to her own actions, but that needed more self-reflection to fully sink in. Maybe when she wasn't so distracted by how she smelled. What she did not realize, or consciously accept, was the simple fact that Ezra's words had been right, and she didn't like that. And that irritated her, which in her own convoluted way came out as kindness to Liana, to show Ezra that he was wrong. She wouldn't accept what Ezra said to his face, but she could saw that he was wrong.

As they got closer to the star destroyer, their path crossed the nesting grounds of a herd of small scavengers, little creatures that seemed to burrow their way under the sand to stay out of the heat. The unexpected activity drew them out of their burrows, and they scampered around the blurrg's feet, intent on not getting too far from their holes. But they weren't prepared for Ciri's smell, and the ones near their blurrg ended up deviating too far from their nests. Ciri was casually watching them, when a pair suddenly suddenly dropped into the sand not a few feet ahead of them. The sand started to part where the little creatures had vanished, and she spotted the slowly widening hole in the sand almost too late.

"Stop!" It was all she could manage as another creature slipped off the edge.

@Sreeya @Malon @LadyRen

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Damn. Kieran was a talker. Ezra wondered if he could just pretend not to hear, but he eventually decided against it.

“Master Zathria,” He answered, “She visited my parents to talk about bringing me into the Order and here I am,” Ezra explained. He had talked to his dad about it beforehand, but Pops was still a mystery. He had checked in on Ezra since he arrived at the temple, but he didn’t express any overall opinions about him joining the Order.

“What about you? One of those typical kidnapped as a baby stories?” Ezra asked. He may have been completely blocking Kieran’s view, but at least he smelled nice. Of course, the chances of Kieran sliding right off were high. Ezra was a bit busy shifting around how he sat on the awkwardly shaped blurrg to notice the scavengers. As a result, when Ciri shouted for them to stop, he was caught entirely off guard. He yanked hard on the reins, but it only made the blurrg angry.

With a loud squeal, it charged ahead right towards the quicksand and opening. The beast tripped over itself, but Ezra couldn’t get off in time, sending both him and Kieran sailing into the hole. He didn’t even have the chance to cry out before he began to sink into the sand, trying to claw his way out. He managed to grab a hold of Kieran’s arm but soon realized the other teen was also drowning.

@Malon @Wit @LadyRen

 

[Kieran Nomar]

The next few moments of Kieran's life were among the scariest.

He was once again confronted by someone asking him how he joined the Order. Was he just another orphan taken in? And he was, but it was much more complicated and involved things he didn't like thinking about. Things Kaisa often told him he needed to not linger upon. But before he could decide on a way to address it, a whirl of activity stole his attention.

"What's going on?!" he blurted out, because Ezra was so damn tall he couldn't fucking see.

Not that it mattered, because then the blurrg was charging and the sand was rushing up to catch him. Only, this was not ordinary sand. Ezra grabbed his arm — to stabilize himself or to pull them out, Kieran did not know — but that didn't matter either, because the sand was like the maw of a krayt dragon, dragging them down into the throat of the planet. Kieran sucked in a breath, but he was only under for a moment before the ground opened up beneath him and dumped him into dark, open air.

Reflexively, he tried to reach for the Force, tried to cushion his fall—their fall; but he was still just a learner. He wasn't as proficient with the Force as the other Padawans, certainly not a Knight, and instinctive Force use in a dangerous situation was something only they could do.

He hit the ground hard. Enough to daze him. Then something else hit him. Well, fell on him really, on his one exposed leg. The blurgg, he realized. Adrenaline from the fall must have shielded him from the pain, but it was only momentary, because it exploded from his legs, causing white light to burst from behind his eyes. Light that fast faded to darkness. In those last few waking moments, he was vaguely aware that something was broken. That he was in a dark somewhere without a lightsaber.

What he didn't know was where he fell, and what was living in it. Because in that next instant, the pain took him, and he passed out of conciseness.

@Sreeya @Wit @LadyRen

 

[Liana Mason]

There were actually a few thoughts racing through her mind as she reflected on what had justhappened. While she understood that they were different and that her bubbly, excited and loud demeanor could sometimes irritate others, she was still hurt by their words. She wasn't pouting, but the internal pain was reflected in the way her little blonde head (together with the bubble gum pink tips) was still held lower than usual and that sudden shift in her appearance: She was neither smiling, nor babbling as usual, nor trying to brighten the other's day for now. She was just sitting on the Blurrg, quietly reflecting and contemplating.

Ciri caught her rather absent-mindedly as she quietly spoke to her. It was a very kind apology she was offering, even a soft encouragement that brighten her expressions again. "It's okay...Yes, I'll try to tone down a little. But thanks, that's very kind of you" she looked over her shoulder, given her a smile as her mood lightened again. She deliberately kept her voice low as she knew Ciri didn't like sentimental, emotional conversations too much and she didn't want the boys to notice.

However right as they were almost caught up, things began to escalate rather quickly and Lia aas absolutely not prepared for this at all. There was a sudden commotion due to the cute little creatures milling around, however while Lia was busy keeping the Blurrg calm, they seemed to be moving onto a field of quick sand rather quickly. "OH NO", it loudly escaped her, frantically glancing around and trying to determine whether they could still make it out of the field, however everything seemed to be way too late.

Disaster struck right as Ezra and Kieran were hurled from the Blurrg and landed in the sand, the beige masses starting to the devour them instantly. "NO! NO! CIRI WE GOTTA HELP!", she managed to cry out right before the Blurrg underneath them began to get nervous as well. She reached out with the Force in an attempt to buy the boys some more time, but the moving, panicked Blurrg was simply too distracting while the sand had also swallowed way too much of them already.

She was usually not too bad at not freaking out, but this time she was immediately flooded with panic as there was simply not much left ofnthe boys. Their own Blurrg escalated as way, beginning to break into a panicked sprint, however before they were hurled off the feet, they were suddenly encompassed by a large net. Only then did she realize that the little Natives were helping them!

They immediately began yanking them off the running Blurrg and towards them, seemingly into safety, closely pressed against one another and their little transport rough, yet as they reached the creatures, she was quite relieved. They would save them!! "Omg thank you, thank you! But please, help our friends, maybe you can catch them, too!", while she pleaded for them to act quickly, she started squirming in an attempt to crawl out of the net already, however what Lia did not know was that they had just been captured, not saved...They were surrounded by the creatures before one of them suddenly pulled out a blaster and immediately shot the two of them - fortunately using stun bolts, but there was no help coming for the boys as they had already been swallowed. There was nothing more coming from the blonde Jedi's mouth as she was immediately stunned - motionless and quiet and her skin scratched open by the rough sand and rocky bottom underneath. The little creatures seemed happy with their catch, but with Ezra and Kieran gone and injured, there was no help coming for the bundle of Jedi either...

@Sreeya @Malon @Wit

 

[Ezra Thorne]

At some point, the ground gave away beneath him and he felt nothing but pain. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the blurrg fell right atop them. There was a sick crunch as agony surged through his arm that was now bent awkwardly. Ezra grunted in pain, his eyes watering. He couldn’t see anything, but he did hear hissing in the distance thanks to his sensitive ears. Ezra was close to passing out, but he remained with it out of sheer spite.

“Fuck being a Jedi,” He said through gritted teeth as he attempted to move the dead blurrg off himself. He could hear the hissing getting louder, along with some shuffling that sounded like something was moving closer. Ezra grunted loudly, focusing the Force to push the blurrg off. It hardly worked, making the break worse.

“Kieran? Are you alive?” He called quietly out in the darkness, unable to see anything. He couldn’t push the blurrg off by himself and the creature was getting closer. Ezra reached a hand over and felt around until he touched what felt like a face. He slapped Kieran’s face aggressively a few times, “Wake up!” He whispered, genuinely hoping the other padawan wasn’t dead.

A vexis slithered towards them and lashed out at the blurrg, not spotting the two boys just yet.

@Malon

 

[Kieran Nomar]

Blackness.

Then a voice. Distant, like an echo in a yawning chasm. Then a cacophony of voices, all familiar to Kieran in some way but his hazy mind kept him from discerning who they belonged to. As he began to swim towards the surface of the fog, the other voices melted away until there was only one, also familiar, followed by a sharp sting.

"Stop..." he mumbled, uncertain if anyone could hear him or if his voice was just in his own head.

Another impact. The same stinging sensation. "I said stop..."

Something else was surfacing behind him now. The water haze clogging his mind was shot darkening. The Light he had reached for earlier remained out of reach, but now that he was vaguely aware of the pain he had been in before, there was a new power to reach for. By focusing on the pain, he could draw out more of it, his consciousness surfacing more rapidly so that when the next slap came, he was aware at least that it was a slap. "STOP!"

It all came out, a shockwave of power that sent the blurrg soaring off of them and into the head of the vexis that had just struck at it. A sickening thud and crunch sounded as one animal landed on the other and the darkness fell silent. Only this time, Kieran no longer felt foggy and distant. He was awake now, panting heavily, wondering where he was and what had happened. It was about then that he remembered hearing a voice.

"Ezra?" he called out, feeling around in the dark. It didn't take long to find the other boy's arm and grip the mangled shirt sleeve there. "Ezra, is that you? Where—" Pain searing and hot lanced through his leg. Oh, right. It's broken. He gritted his teeth. "What happened?"

They weren't out of danger yet, though neither of them knew it. The sound had alerted the tunnel's other inhabitants. Other vexis quickly tunneling back to see what had become of their broodmate...

@Sreeya

 

[Cirilla Shan]

Ciri's eyes widened as she saw the boys disappear, unexpected worry beginning to kick in. Her breath came shorter, her chest felt heavy, and she was really feeling the heat of the sun beating down on them. But before she could do more than worry about the missing boys, their own blurrg panicked and the two padawans were thrown from the mount.

Only for their fall to be broken by a net that fell over them, pushing the two padawans together and down onto the sand. She could hear Liana speaking, but the words were unclear to her, her own heartbeat too loud in her ears for anything else to get through. Then came the sudden pang of pain as the stun bolt hit her, but with her body already reacting to whatever effect the mixture of blurrg fluids were having on her things weren't as simple as a stun bolt might make it out to be. So the stun bolt, that should have knocked her out, did much more. Liana would sense the other padawan go limp besides her, and though at the time it seemed like she had simply passed out, the reality was much worse.

Dressed in clothes she despised, covered in snot and poop, and moments after remarkable displays of just how a Jedi need not be, Cirilla Shan passed away from a body that could not deal with the stress it was suddenly placed under.

@Sreeya @Malon @LadyRen

 

[Baghra Desilijic]

When the girl (@LadyRen) came to, she would find herself on the upper deck of Hutt sail barge, bound and restrained by electrical cuffs to combat her usage of the Force. Her weapon was already confiscated, the great immensity of a Hutt on its mobile throne turning the lightsaber over in its hand.

«You have brought me a tremendous gift,» Baghra the Hutt said in Huttese to the tiny creatures that had brought her the young Jedi girl. «The credits I will make from the sale of this one alone will more than find the construction of my new palace on this world. And, of course, you will all receive the pick of the best salvage in my territory once I am established.»

Baghra knew that at her young age, the power she currently had was derived from her father's influence. The mighty Nor'baal the Hutt was increasingly feared in the galaxy after his recent dealings saw the downfall of multiple influential Sith. But this could be the break she needed. This Jedi could be the first step to build a name and reputation of her own. She licked her moist, putrid lips with her wart-laden tongue at the prospect.

«Your Immense Eminence,» one of the lowly creatures said. «We found another Jedi (@Wit) alongside the girl. We tried to bring you this one too, but— She died due to trauma. What should we do with her?»

Baghra briefly considered contacting the Jedi Order to give the other Padawan's corpse back. Not out of kindness, no. But because she knew the Jedi would begrudgingly pay anything she asked. Ultimately, though, she decided against it. If she alerted the Jedi, they would inevitably ask where the remaining live girl went, and that would invite scrutiny she did not want. «Bring me her weapon and toss what's left of her into the dunes. This one and I—» she eyed the last living Jedi girl on the deck «—have an auction to attend.»

/exit thread with @LadyRen