Ask Crash Landing

[Maura Starwalk]

The creature growled at Maura, letting a deep, guttural sound crawl out from its chest and into the cool night air. The padawan almost growled back as her lips pulled back into a snarl, showing off her gritted white teeth. She readied herself, shifting her weight forward onto one food while her hand went to the lightsaber at her belt.

The two of them remained at a standoff for a second, but then the creature lunged. It went for her head with its teeth barred and legs outstretched. Maura activated her lightsaber and swung at the creature as she straffed to the side, but her blade just went right through it. She had to follow through with her two-armed swing, so she went forward a few steps before turning around. When she was able to shift her weight around and look, the creature was already facing her again and showed no sign of damage.

"What the kriff?" Maura's heart sank in her chest. "How am I supposed to fight something I can't hit?"

Worried, Maura began to pull the Force into herself, just in case it would do better.

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

From his vantage point on the ground, Ruzaan resolved to ask Maura how she'd managed to acquire a violet lightsaber. Was it a perk of being the Grandmaster's Padawan? Was it the result of two crystals, one red and one blue, working together? Or, as he suspected, had Maura's unique personality expressing itself through her lightsaber crystal as well? He'd heard about Force users who formed strong connections with the crystal in their lightsabers; If anyone had the force of will to do that, it was Maura.

What should've been a devastating strike on the shadow beast, though, spoke to a far greater danger than what Ruzaan had initially feared. The Togruta's jaw dropped as Maura's violet blade passed cleanly though the shadow beast, which looked for all intents and purposes to be completely unharmed. The gouges left by the beast's claws on the ground, however, left little doubt in Ruzaan's mind that this encounter was still a deadly one.

"Don't get hit!" Ruzaan called out unhelpfully, as his brain raced to try and think of a way to fight it. His yelling momentarily caused the creature to swing its head his direction, and Ruzaan nearly fainted as he realized that its face was that of an Akul from his home planet of Shili; a vicious predator that hunted Togrutas like him. His heart began racing, pounding against his ribcage as if it could somehow escape his body and run screaming away into the dark woods. Ruzaan could feel the aura of fear and despair that emanated from the shadowy Akul, clouding his connection to the Force as the panic he felt rose in his chest. Was it his imagination, or had the shadowy creature gotten bigger?

The Dark side phantasm lunged once again at Maura, targeting her legs. It was playing on its home turf here, delighting in the fear and panic it sowed while presenting itself to be as threatening to its prey as possible. Maura would thus likely see a different form of the specter than Ruzaan did, but the effect would be the same- an attempt to shatter her will so it could savor every last bit of terror before it killed them.

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[Maura Starwalk]

"Ah!" Maura sent out a burst of the Force at the creature as it leapt at her, flinching and tucking her chin as if she was hiding from it. The wave of the Force sent the shadowy wolf flying back to smack against the trunk of a tree, causing parts of its smoky form to disappear into the air. Moments later though, the smoke thickened.

"What the heck!" Maura returned her lightsaber to a defensive position in front of her, her chest heaving up and down behind it. Her body was alive with adrenaline, but her skin was ice cold. How did she fight something that couldn't be hit? What did she do? The girl was simultaneously freaking out and growing more frustrated at the same time.

"Go away already!" The padawan channeled the Force in her body as the shadowy creature came running back at her, holding her ground as the Force coursed through and built up in her core. She could feel fear growing exponentially in her chest the closer the creature got, and her body was screaming at her to run. Against all of that, she held her ground and prepared to release the attack as the creature gathered up its haunches and leapt for her, teeth bared. "GO AWAY!"

The build-up of energy, fueled by her fear and frustration, expelled out from her hands as a burst of force right in the enemy's face. It, again, sent the creature flying back. Although it didn't fly back as far, it struggled up from the ground with a drum-sized hole right through its chest. A deep growl resonated in the empty space, but rather than return to attack Maura once again, it simply backed up out of sight.

As soon as it was gone, Maura collapsed in place onto the ground, hugging herself with her forehead pressed into the cool, moist jungle soil.

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan was about to suggest a Force-based attack when Maura blasted the creature with one, sending it flying across the clearing. "Nice job!" the Togruta cheered, although his excitement was short-lived. As quickly as it'd appeared, however, his glee vanished as the specter brushed it off like it was nothing. It charged at Maura again, and the Togruta couldn't imagine why his fellow Padawan wasn't running. At the last possible moment, Maura unleashed another attack with the Force, blasting the creature back again and also leaving a gaping hole in its chest. Ruzaan waited for the creature to re-form again, but it simply slunk off into the woods.

The Togruta struggled to his feet as Maura fell to the ground, and he made his way over to where she lay on the ground. As he approached he physically hesitated, unsure how Maura would react to his hand on her shoulder and ultimately deciding to simply hover, kneeling down near her. "Maura, are you ok?"

He'd not seen anything like that before; Maura's display of power was impressive- no wonder the Grandmaster had chosen her as an apprentice- but it had brought up more questions than answers to his mind.

"What did you do?" he asked, worry in his tone.

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[Maura Starwalk]

"I wanna go home," the padawan muttered, her voice muffled by its proximity to the dark jungle floor. "I just wanna go home."

Her master had taught her to never lash out with emotion - whether that be from anger, fear, or frustration - but she'd done just that. When the shadowy creature leapt at her, she was so scared and so fed up with everything that was going on around her that she couldn't help herself. It was reactionary, but she felt like she'd somehow failed her master.

"I didn't wanna come out here. I just wanted to know if anyone was missing us back home," she continued, her voice breaking midway when she caught a sob in her throat. "But you got mad at me so I did and then I had to fight that thing and I wanna go home."

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan swallowed hard as he listened to Maura's admissions; now that the immediate danger had passed, there was more of an opportunity to have a conversation with his fellow Padawan. "I want to go home, too" he admitted, his heart panging within him at the obvious pain in Maura's voice. Even worse was the knowledge that he bore responsibility for her current state- facedown on the ground, holding back tears.

"Maura, I..." he started, before a prickle on the back of his neck gave him the feeling they were being watched. The Togruta stiffened and stood up, grimacing against the pain in his torso. Urgency colored his tone as he spoke down to his fellow Padawan. "You have to trust me on this. We need to get back to the camp." He wasn't certain if the shadow beast had come back, but he didn't want to be here if it did. Nervously, he scanned the edge of the clearing, failing to spot whatever was making him feel threatened but unable to relax. Was his mind playing tricks on him?

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[Maura Starwalk]

They had to return to the camp. Maura unfolded herself from the ground and slowly stood up, wiping her eyes with the side of her palm before turning to face Ruz. The girl looked exhausted, but that wouldn't surprise either of them. It had been a long, long day. They were both tired. "Okay...."

Someone was definitely watching them, but as the two of them limped their way back to the village, it would not show its face. If Maura had the same prickling hairs on the back of her neck, she showed no signs of it. But for the entire walk back, Ruzaan would not be able to shake the feeling of eyes on his back. And whatever it was, it was not benign.

When they reached the village and the tent shortly thereafter, Maura practically collapsed onto the pillows and the nearby warming stones. She pulled the hood of her Jedi robes up over her head and curled up into the fetal position, clearly not interested in doing anything but going straight to sleep.

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Several times on the way back to the village Ruzaan scanned his surroundings, hoping to get a glimpse of whatever was clearly following them. Even returning to the village didn't break the tension he felt, both about their unseen pursuer and between him and Maura. He wanted to apologize, but it just wasn't safe to focus on anything other than making it safely back to the snerson village. He'd hoped to have that conversation there, but just as quickly as they entered the tent Maura curled up with a warming stone; clearly both exhausted and not in the mood for conversation.

The Togruta silently argued with himself about whether or not to start talking, but eventually decided not to; he'd seen what Maura was capable of when pushed beyond her limit, and he didn't want to explain to the sneople why there was a Togruta-shaped hole in the side of the tent. Ruzaan ended up finding his own warming stone to curl around, a slight grunt escaping his lips as the hot stone pressed against his injured torso. Eventually, he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

About 3 hours later, the Togruta awoke, still breathing heavily from the nightmare he'd just experienced; a reoccurring one about Felucia that never seemed to get any easier to deal with. He was drenched in a cold sweat, and he ran the back of his hand across his eyes to wipe away the lingering tears. As his breathing began to be more controlled, he glanced across to where Maura had laid down earlier in the night, hoping that he hadn't woken her up in his distress.

Sleep roll: 3/8

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[Maura Starwalk]

Ruzaan wasn't the only one with restless sleep, but he was the only one to wake up from it. Though she tossed and turned over and over with her pillow clutched desperately in her claws, Maura stayed fast asleep.

Her dreams, just like her sleep, were restless.

She was running through dark, thick jungle foliage from an indescribable amalgamation of shadows behind her. Glimpses of that woman from before kept passing her by, watching her as a bystander to her terror. Maura wanted to scream out in fear, but also anger. Even in the depth of her sleep she could feel the heat of anger burning her face and chest.

The nightmare continued on and on and on for the rest of the night; seemingly endless; infinite loop.

When morning came, Maura woke up in a cold swear, still as a can be, and feeling like she needed two days more of sleep. Light was streaming in from the outside of the tent, and she could hear the hubbub of village activities growing louder and louder.

roll: 8/20 for quality of sleep
tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

To Ruzaan's relief, his nightmare hadn't woken Maura. He'd been mentally preparing himself for the inevitable barrage of questions from his fellow Padawan as to why he was calling out in his sleep, but thankfully it seemed this nightmare was silent. Shaking his head to clear the last vestiges of his dream, Ruzaan rolled over and tried to fall back asleep, which was easier said than done. He shivered against the cold of the night, the warmth of the warming stone long since faded and the sweat from his nightmare cold against his skin. He eventually drifted off, however, and slept for the rest of the night (Sleep roll: 13/20).

Upon waking, the Togruta glanced over to where Maura was still motionless, making as little noise as possible as he pulled himself into a sitting position; this was tougher than usual, but he'd gotten better at navigating around the difficulties presented by his wound. A soft swish of the tent flap would be the only indication that he'd quietly left, and moments later Ruzaan was making his way into the forests surrounding the camp by himself.

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[Maura Starwalk]

Maura slowly sat up and glanced around the tent, noticing that Ruzaan was nowhere to be found. She was concerned at first and almost immediately jumped up onto her feet, then the events of yesterday and all her pent-up frustration over him returned. "Whatever...." she murmured before plopping back down on the ground and crossing her arms in a pout. She figured he probably went off to talk to the village chief or something. "Responsible stuff..."

"I mean, why do I have to be responsible? I'm stranded on a planet surrounded by sneople!" Ugh! The padawan's face had warmed up to a deep red, and her fists were balled up so tightly that her nails were in danger of piercing her skin. All that frustration and anger from before came rushing back, and she stormed out of the tent. She needed to blow off some steam.

As Ruzaan went off into the woods, he wouldn't find any traces of that Dark Side presence he'd felt the night before. In fact, the morning forest was covered in fresh dew, and the sound of wildlife was ever-present.

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan hadn't gone far- just needing to answer the call of nature and wanting some privacy- and was grateful that the forest did not hold the same danger during the day as it had last night. Gone was the foreboding sensations and dark whispers, replaced with birdsong and dew that quickly drenched his bare feet. The Togruta returned to the campsite just in time to see Maura come out of the tent with a head of steam. Ruzaan frowned, surprised and disappointed that a night's sleep had done nothing for her mood.

"If you don't let go of your anger, I'm afraid you won't hear my apology" he said, feeling his own frustration bubble up slightly as her mood washed over him. Listening had never been Maura's strong suit... or his, he supposed. "Like it or not, we have to work together on this."

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[Maura Starwalk]

Maura turned around when Ruzaan spoke to her, a pouty, irritated look already on her face. But, for the moment at least, she didn't lash out at him. Instead, the padawan stood with her arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed and waited for him to say whatever he wanted to say.

He was right about them needing to work together. And before, she'd had no problem with that whatsoever. In fact, she'd really enjoyed most of their adventures up until last night. Even though she wanted to go back to that, she was stubborn and reluctant to let go of her frustrations. Alex would probably scold her for it, but she just couldn't help it. Her chest was hot with anger, and she wasn't sure much short of an ice bath could cool it down.

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan had expected something in the way of a verbal acknowledgement from Maura- most likely a tirade of some sorts- so her silence caught him off guard. She was clearly still angry, which didn't do anything to improve his own mood. He could practically feel the anger rolling off of her, and for a moment he considered approaching at a different time; that is, until his own stubbornness took over.

Two could play this game.

Inclining his head slightly down towards Maura and arching an eyebrow, Ruzaan did his best to channel the tone of a Temple teacher waiting for directions to be followed.

"Well?"

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[Maura Starwalk]

"You said you were gonna apologize," she said curtly, her arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed. She wasn't sure what was up with his incredibly condescending look was for, and frankly, it pissed her off more. To her girl's credit though, she was trying really hard not to go on a tirade about everything she was frustrated with.

Before he could speak or she could listen, a small group of villagers slithered up to them. The chief led the group, and a few faces both familiar and unfamiliar followed closely behind them. He seemed oblivious to the tension in the air, and immediately addressed the both of them.

"Good morning. Why don't the two of you come join usss for the morning meal? It'sss the mossst important meal of the day." Though it was phrased as a question, both Maura and Ruzaan would get the idea that it was not really up to them. But, at least for Maura, she would never turn away food.

"Yeah! Sounds great!" Eager to distract herself from her anger as quick as possible, Maura turned to run off, but was stopped by another member of the group, Dsiod.

"Bring that drum, young one," he instructed, and Maura was given time to go quickly fetch it before the two of them would be led to the village center where a small breakfast feast had been cooked up. She made sure to walk on the opposite side of the group as Ruzaan.

Various members of the villagers slithered in empty-handed towards the center firepit and then left with bowls of food to enjoy. The two padawans caught the attention of many pairs of eyes as they approached, but thankfully none of them seemed unfriendly. Just curious, or a bit wary.

Absolutely starving, Maura quickly made her way up to the firepit and held her hands out to receive a bowl of some kind of stew. The broth was a dark brown color, and floating within were bits of meat, unidentifiable vegetables or roots, and what looked like eyeballs. It smelled good, but perhaps didn't look the most appetizing.

"Thank you!" the girl called out to the food-distributor-snerson before she walked back over to Dsiod. She lifted the bowl of soup to her lips, completely unperturbed by the questionable contents within, and began wolfishly chowing down on the food.

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Well, now I'm not going to snarked Ruzaan's mind as Maura brought up his offer of an apology. But before the words could leave his mouth they were interrupted by the snerson Chief inviting them to breakfast; seemingly oblivious to the tension between the two Jedi. Fortunately for everyone involved, food was probably the one thing thing that could've staved off a heated argument... or worse.

Ruzaan found his anger bleeding away as the smells of something hot and ready hit his nose. The Togruta's stomachs chorused audibly; he was hungry, and it occurred to him that he'd not had anything to eat since a couple of spinach puffs midday yesterday. By the time Maura had returned with the drums and had received her bowl, he was nearly done with his first helping and his mood was much improved. Despite his earlier confrontation with Maura, he was curious about the instrument she'd obtained.

"What've you got there?" he asked, hoping a bite to eat had helped with her mood, too.


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[Maura Starwalk]

Maura looked up over at Ruzaan with wary, uncertain eyes. Her cheeks, tense, almost pushed her eyes into a squint of sorts. Very clearly, he would be able to see the thoughts running behind those eyes as she decided whether or not she wanted to speak with him. By the graces of food, Dsoid, or the new day, her face relaxed and she opted to answer him.

"Soup." She played with the vowels when she answered and made a sound similar to that of a ball running down a length of pipe. Then, realizing he was referring to the drum and not her food, she corrected herself. "Oh, um, Dsoid gave this to me. It belonged to his mom."

Dsoid gave an affirmative nod as he drank his breakfast quietly. He then lowered the bowl and said, "The drum bringsss back good memories. My mother usssed it to help a lot of people. Perhapsss it will be of ussse to you in helping othersss asss well."

Shortly after, the chief joined them.

"Yesssterday I suggesssted to ssshow you two to the place we lassst sssaw the outsssider," he began. "However, I have been advisssed otherwissse. My father, Meic, isss the oldessst among usss. He hasss ssseen many dangersss and many plaguesss." The chief's face was befallen with a somber expression, but it was quickly shaken away. "He hasss been sssick himssself, but he isss awake now, if you wisssh to ssspeak to him."

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

It was all Ruzaan could do to hold his tongue as he watched Maura debate as to whether or not to answer his question. When she finally did, he released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding- there was some communication between them, at least. He would've pushed the conversation further, but the topic soon shifted to that of Meic; the eldest villager. Ruzaan glanced over at Maura before agreement before nodding his acceptance of the offer to speak with Meic. A murmur of thanks to those who had prepared and served them the soup, and he was ready to go.

The Togruta followed as the chief led the way back over towards the medical tent where Ruzaan had been earlier, blinking as he stepped out into the sunlight. A short walk across the campsite later, and his eyes were again adjusting to a change in lighting while his montrals adjusted to the chorus of coughs inside the tent.

The Jedi would be led over to where a very old snerson was mostly horizontal on a cot made of wood and vines. The snerson's face and skin were wrinkled with age, and when they coughed it racked their entire body, but their eyes widened slightly and the snerson equivalent of a smile crossed their face as their gaze alighted on the drums that Maura carried.

"It hassss been many moonsss sssince sssoneome lassst played thossse drumsss" they said, with a voice that rasped like dry parchment paper. "Played them ssskillfully, I mean" he amended, clearly past the age of giving a shit. Another cough worked its way through their system, leaving Meic gasping for breath; but his spirits seemed buoyed by the presence of the instrument. "Pleassse... ssserenade usss" Meic said. "Perhapsss you can frighten away the ghossstsss of our illnesss with sssome musssic."

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[Maura Starwalk]

"Sure!" Maura gulped down the rest of her soup, then carelessly set it to the side and jumped up onto her feet.

When they arrived at the tent, Maura looked down at the hand drum Dsoid had given her when Meic drew attention to it. "Dsoid said it belonged to his mom," she commented. When he asked her to serenade them, she looked a bit hesitant but decided to ignore her doubts. She'd heard the echo once before, so surely she would be able to hear it again.

"Okay, I'll try." The padawan plopped down on the ground and focused on the Force around the drum. She'd found the echo by accident, but now that she knew it was there, it was much easier to bring it to clarity. Sure enough, the faint ghosts of memory came to her, and with eyes half closed, Maura began to steadily drum palm and fingers against the wood and hide instrument.

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Not for the first time since they'd started on this mission together, Ruzaan marveled at Maura's strength in the Force as he felt her gather it around her and focus on the instrument. He'd sensed as much when she was in the forest, fighting the shadow creature, but this time her connection to the Force didn't feel threatening. The Togruta nearly gasped in shock as the first notes and rhythms from the drum sounded out from the instrument- no, from Maura. Eyes half closed, the rhythms she played were simple but had a profound impact on those in the vicinity.

Ruzaan found warm memories from his childhood surging to the forefront of his mind. He remembered the gentle glow of his mother's smile, the feeling of turu grass from Shili beneath his bare feet, playing with his friends, and the feeling of resting near a campfire as the sun began to set. He momentarily forgot his spat with Maura, the pain in his torso, and the weight of the ongoing war.

When Maura finished playing, Ruzaan wiped a sleeve across his eyes and found that it came away moist. "That was... amazing" he whispered, surprised that he could make any sound at all.

A couple of coughs echoed out from around the tent, jolting Ruzaan back to the reality of their situation; but was it Ruzaan's imagination, or did Meic appear slightly healthier than moments before? Snerson expressions were difficult for Ruzaan to read, but the elder was clearly smiling. "The girl playsss well... ssshe remindsss me of your mother" he said to Dsiod.

"Thank you" Meic then turned to Maura. "You have the Gift, child. It has always visited usss, one way or another, in timesss of peril sssuch as now."



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