Ask [Barison] There Are Eyes in the Water

[Andrej Borovkov]

For religious reasons, many of the Barisoni had renounced technology. That's what Andrej had read in his short-lived research into the planet after he was told he was being sent off on some mission to find some old ruins. "...or something like that." It meant that Barison only had one spaceport though, and it was barely worthy of the name. Andrej felt kind of bad for the Barisoni, not liking technology and whatnot. Space travel and spaceships were just so fascinating to the Dathomirian native. He wondered if the people who lived here knew all the things technology could do if they would still shun it.

But, regardless of his lamentations for the people here, his job had nothing to do with that. He was supposed to wait for his partner to arrive, then they were to go off on their way to find the ruins off in the ocean and retrieve any artifacts of interest they found. It was something "Sithy" they were looking for, whatever that meant.

Andrej waited at the edge of the spaceport, seated on a rock along the beach, kicking his feet in the sand and just spacing out for the moment. He was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, and his lightsaber was clipped to his belt. "I hope Dozer's doing okay..."

tag: @Braden

 

[Wodan]

The sea breeze rustled through Wodan’s hair as he walked down the beach kicking a stray stone as he went. The Firrerreo noble was dressed in a pair of three quarter length shorts, a flashy palm tree and coconut shirt and a ball cap. He rested his trusty spear across the back of his neck, arms draped over the Alchemically imbued object. Wodan spotted a Zabrak male further up ahead on the beach, the report said his compatriot on this little outing was a Zabrak. On closer inspection Wodan spotted the lightsaber hanging from his belt, this was the guy, either that or it was a strange occurrence to have two Zabrak FS’s on the same beach.

“I guess you are Andrei. Did I say that right?” Removing his left arm from the spear it dropped down his right side before burying its point into the sand. “Wōđanaz Ása-Liðar.” He greeted him by holding out his right hand. “Though I have been told Wodan is easier. Umm, was your flight ok?” He asked, awkwardly. Wodan’s instructors had given him express instructions to not be a pompous ass, even though he was a noble by Birth he no longer had the power or money to back it up. So be nice or you will end up in a puddle on the floor. Was the gist of what he had been told before he left Korriban for Barison.

@lizziie

 

[Andrej Borovkov]

The sound of sand shifting underneath someone's footsteps caught Andrej's attention, and the boy turned his head just in time to spot a rather brightly dressed older boy heading his way.

"Yeah, and uh, yeah." Andrej stood up to meet Wodan and found the two were pretty much the same height. He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it up around his horns, then accepted and shook Wodan's hand as the other acolyte introduced himself. "Uh, yeah. Flight was aight. Yours?

His first impression of the other kid was that he seemed kind of awkward and kind of...formal. The two had one thing in common at least, which could be seen in the way Andrej immediately went to rub the back of his neck. What did he say?

"So do you prefer Wodan or...?" Andrej's accent was bold, with heavy rolled r's and broad intonation. It might sound funny coming from the boy with his lopsided smile and lean, almost thin build. He was doing his best to seem friendly. "And uh, locals aren't super fond of tech so we'll probably have to take a canoe or something..."

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[Wodan]

It seemed that neither of them were rather comfortable in the situation. “Umm, had better I guess.” He replied, when it came to the question on his name, he wasn’t really sure. He was so used to Wodan by now it was more his name than what his father had given him. “Either or, I guess though, I was told by my instructors that Wodan was easier to shout when something went wrong.” Wodan looked out into the ocean, luckily for the Acolyte he had learned to swim a few years ago after spending some time on Mon Cala.

“Any idea where we can get one of these canoes? Or better yet where we are going?” Like every action within the Sith, the orders they had received were vague at best. He did wonder how the Empire had gotten so far with the lack of direction most missions were carried out with.

@lizziie

 

[Andrej Borovkov]

"Yeah, there's man over there." Andrej pointed to a Barisoni human down the beach manning a stand covered and surrounded in old canoes. Though they were probably meant to be rented and used by tourists, it's not like the guy would know they were gonna paddle off in search of some old Sith ruin. "I'll uh... I'll go talk to him?"

The Zabrak made his way toward the man he'd told Wodan about, straightened his shoulders, and approached the stall. "I would like to rent one canoe, please," he asked of the Barisoni man. The guy looked up at him, sized him and Wodan up, then called back to someone seated just out of view. The exchange was in a language Andrej didn't understand, and thus he couldn't really even discern the tone of voice. After a bit of back and forth, the guy running the stand turned back and grinned at the two of them.

"Five credits to rent!" he declared. Andrej glanced over to the sign that clearly said ten credits and cocked his thumb with a quizzical expression, but the guy just shook his head. "Five credits! You two remind me of me and my brother. Spending all day out in the heat... Exploring... Canoes are good for boys!"

Andrej looked at Wodan, shrugged, then fished out five credits and slid them over to the guy. "Thanks. Uh, which one?"

"Take your pick!"

tag: @Braden

 

[Wodan]

He nodded to the Zabrak as he made his way over to the canoe salesman. Wodan pulled his spear out of the sand shaking free some of the wetter bits before following Andrej up the beach towards the salesman. He gave the salesman a stern look as he was being sized up, Wodan had been constantly sized up since he came to the Sith Empire and was really starting to get tired of it by now.

Apparently though the sizing up was for their benefit as they got the canoe at a reduced price. After handing over the five credits he and Andrej were left to pick their mode of transport for the day. Wodan rubbed his chin as he walked down the line of canoes, he had no idea what he was looking at, did he want the biggest one? The shiniest? Which one looked the newest? To the Firrerreo noble it was like comparing which grain of sand on Korriban was the best. Finally out of sheer panic because everyone was watching he pointed at a random canoe. “This one looks the best.”

The salesman didn’t really say anything, heading back inside his little hut once they picked. “I guess ill take the front you take the back?” His right hand holding the spear at his side he reached down with his left and grabbed the front of the canoe. It was heavy but between the pair they would be able to move it down the short beach and into the calm ocean.

Once it was afloat he placed his weapon inside before jumping in himself, two paddles sat inside the hull, taking one he readied for Andrej to push them free of the sand before he began paddling to get them away from the surf. “So left or right?”

@lizziie

 

[Andrej Borovkov]

"Aight." Andrej dug his fingers under the edge of the canoe and lifted, then walked it over to the water's edge with Wodan. It was a little heavy - more cumbersome than anything - but with the two of them working together it wasn't too bad. He brushed his hands off then squinted at it as Wodan got in. There might have been a little bit of apprehension visible on the Zabrak's face for a moment, but he didn't hesitant long before getting the canoe pushed out into the ocean and climbing in himself.

"Er, left I guess." The ocean ahead of them was dotted with all sorts of islands, from mountains to almost-sandbars. "Let's head over to that big one first."

Andrej took the other paddle in his hand and began to go about with paddling and steering. Other than the sounds of waves crashing, sea birds crying, and the wind, it was quiet between the two of them. After realizing he was a bit uncomfortable with the awkward silence, he decided to try for small talk.

"So, how long have you been with Sith?" he asked casually.

roll to work together: 15/20
tag: @Braden

 

[Wodan]

“Aye Aye Captain.” Wodan replied as he placed the paddle into the water on his left and began rowing, each stroke he would swap sides helping both keep the canoe straight and also not overwork one side of his body. Andrej had picked one of the larger islands which was a fair distance away from the canoe shop, so Wodan had to pace himself otherwise he would be burnt out before they got half way.

After the mad dash of strength to get them through the surf and away from shore he settled into a slower rhythm, Andrej followed suit and they were making good ground. As sounds of the waves began to die down slightly Andrej spoke up from the back. “About a year, though I have only spent nine months at the academy. I signed up in the Southern Lands so it took a while to get transferred to the academies up here. What about you?” He asked as they crested a small wave.

@lizziie

 

[Andrej Borovkov]

"Same, actually. I come from Dathomir, so I have had much to catch up on." It had been difficult trying to learn how to read and write along with everything else acolytes went through at Taris, but so far Andrej had managed. His grades could stand to be better, yeah, but he was doing alright all things considered. Things could be worse. "Which academy do you attend? I go to Taris."

It was easier to paddle now that they'd broken past the tides, so Andrej directed the canoe toward their choice island and then began to slowly but steadily row the canoe. Though it wasn't blistering by any means, he could feel the heat of the sun bearing down on his skin. Sweat began to collect into droplets on his face, and he took a second to run a hand through his sweaty hair.

"Does it get hot there?" He would ask after Wodan responded with the academy he came from. He would then squint toward the island, figuring they were about halfway there.

tag: @Braden

 

[Wodan]

“Dathomir, cool that's where the Empress is from right?” He would reply as the canoe slowly drifted towards the island Andrej had chosen as their first destination. The small wooden craft rose and fell with the small waves, spray helping cool the Firrerrian in the hot midday sun of Barison. “I got transferred to Korriban.” Wodan knew there was some prejudice against students who went to Taris, but he tried to not have it hold any opinion on Andrej as they continued to paddle.

“You could say that. The whole world is a desert, so it's either blistering hot, or freezing cold.” He replied as they paddled past a piece of driftwood making its way back to the main island the spaceport was on. Their canoe was taking on a bit of water, but it seemed to not do them any harm as they paddled through the planet's oceans. “Hows Taris, I heard it's a pretty interesting planet with some great history?”

@lizziie

 

[Andrej Borovkov]

"Yeah. She is." The Empress Andruil was from Dathomir. She'd come into power when he was a young boy, though he couldn't pinpoint when. Where he'd lived, in his tribe, the politics of the nightsisters only affected him and his fellow nightbrothers when they were wanted for work. He knew more about nightsister politics now that he was in school at Taris than he ever had living on the planet...

"Lucky," Andrej joked when Wodan mentioned he'd been transferred there. "Taris is okay. I don't know much about planet's history. History isn't really my strong suit. It is big change going from rural Dathomir to very...urban Taris."

Andrej could feel the lukewarm ocean water seeping into his boots at the bottom of the canoe, so the zabrak curled his lip, but he didn't say anything. The feeling of wet socks was universally disliked.

"We're not too far now," he commented. Now that they were away from the crashing waves near the shore, their pace was going a bit quicker. He was a little concerned about the water their canoe seemed to be taking on though.

tag: @Braden

 

[Wodan]

His feet were starting to get wet as the ocean slowly leaked through their not so solid canoe. This brought on a little urgency to the Acolyte who began to paddle with a little more energy as the shoreline grew closer. “I can only imagine, I spent a good few years around busy spaceports, so even with Korriban’s academy it's a bit of a shock seeing so much space with so little people. Must be twice as hard going the other way.”

The Acolyte's back quickly stiffened as a lash of the canoe's inner waves washed against his balls. Looking down he could see that they were not just taking on a little water, they were sinking. “Andrej, start bailing.” He shouted to the Zabrak as he began cupping the water in his hands and trying to empty the boat. After about five seconds of nothing he picked the paddle back up and tried to push them the waves as fast as possible.

But the canoe now weighed a ton. “Abandon ship.” He said as the canoe sank beneath their bums. Wodan was able to attach his spear to his back just before it fell into the depths. Placing the paddle under both his arms, he used the piece of wood as a semi float as the waves pushed him around as he tried to catch a glimpse of Andrej.

@lizziie