Ask Kashyyyk It's Kashyyyk... What Could Go Wrong?

[Thelian Lsai]

Thelian couldn’t deny feeling some sense of excitement upon leaving the Yavin. It seemed like he had explored every corner of the temple in the last few weeks, and the Echani was itching to do something to actually occupy his time with. Of course, as Padawan Learners, they weren’t allowed to go missions without being chaperoned around by a Knight, which limited his options.

Survival training exercises on Kashyyyk, however? Now those were perfectly acceptable. Especially since none of their exercises were meant to take them down towards the planet’s dangerous forest floor.

The Echani Padawan was sat within the passenger compartment of the Jedi shuttle, leaning his head back against the wall behind him and gazing up at the ceiling. In the infinity wisdom of the adults in charge, the ship was piloted by a droid the entire way – which really just made the entire journey to Kashyyyk all the duller.

Dressed for the tasks ahead, Thelian was adorned in a simple brown-and-tan tunic, hood pulled up over his head and utility belt clipped to his waist alongside the unignited hilt of his lightsaber. The Padawan’s turned his gaze back out the transparisteel window as it began to cut down into the lower atmosphere of Kashyyyk – the landscape dominated by gigantic, towering trees and verdant landscapes.

While he was happy enough to be on the transport, Thelian couldn’t help being a touch irritated by the other Padawan that the Order had sought fit to pair him with. He had only every met Varyn Atrix on that beach on Chandrila, and their interactions up to this point weren’t exactly positive.

Whatever.

When the ship finally touched down upon the surface – or rather, upon the landing pad of one of the tree-cities of Kashyyyk – Thelian prompty gathered his belongings and began to make his way down the ramp. The Echani couldn’t help but stop and stare just then, taking a moment to appreciate the sight before him. Growing up entirely within urban environments, Thelian was always taken somewhat aback by places that seemed so lush and full of life.

And it was significantly less humid than Yavin, which was already an improvement.

He glanced back up the ramp, silver eyes fixating upon his companion. “You coming?”

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn was excited about this as well. He'd spent far too much time on Yavin, so he was relatively used to forested worlds that had very little industrial going on. Still, survival on Kashyyyk was a whole different kind of story from being on Yavin. It was far more dangerous and Knights weren't constantly either clearing out the dangerous creatures of the forest or at least diverting them away from the temple.

This was just the pair of Padawans more or less on their own. Speaking of a pair, Varyn was as dubious about Thelian as the pale boy was about him. He had only seen the other guy lash out and try to kill one of their fellow students, but rather than hold that against him and brood over it, he decided to try to give him another chance. He didn't have super high hopes or even entirely trust him, but... time would tell.

Whether any of this more positive attitude came across to Thelian was another question entirely. Varyn couldn't control that, though. As long as he could take care of himself, the other Padawan at least didn't have anyone else out here to hurt.

Dressed similarly to Thelian with his own newly-constructed saber on his belt, he reached down to grab his backpack, tossing it over his shoulders.

Ya, I'm comin, hold on, he said, bending over to grab the emergency beacon and shoving it into a pocket of his backpack before heading over to the ramp.

The landing zone they'd been given was already pretty far away from any landing pads or Wookiee villages and they had quite a trek to get to their extraction point. Waters ran down near them and the ship was already starting to take off.

Wow, look at that, he muttered, looking out over the open valley ahead of them. Navigating to the peak of the tree - their extraction point - would be no small task, but that was why they were here and why they were Jedi, both likely soon to be Knights in the next year or two.

Shall we? he said, starting out crossing the small creek with a light splash. The trek's supposed to take the full day today and half the day tomorrow if we don't screw it up, he said, making sure he and Thelian were on the same page about this.

 

[Thelian Lsai]

Thelian crossed his arms over his chest, silver eyes following Varyn as the boy made his way down the ship ramp. Naturally, the Echani had a similar backpack slung over his shoulder, a few pounds of food rations, medical supplies and a collapsed tent secured to his back.

Unsurprisingly, Thelian looked about as broody as ever – that familiarly grumpy, blank expression etched into his features. Chandrila and everything that happened was still fresh in his mind, and the experience clearly still lingering in his thoughts – the deep look of disappointment from Zana more than anything else. Perhaps for that reason alone, Thelian hadn’t directed any of his usual grouchiness towards Varyn thus far- sparing the fellow Padawan from any rude or condescending remarks. So that was a start. Right?

Thelian gave the fellow Padawan a curt nod and turned his attention back to the path ahead, beginning to make his way past the landing zone. He paused for a moment when Varyn spoke again, silver eyes turning out to the valley ahead for a moment. “Looks like a lot of fuckin’ walking.” He commented dryly, continuing onward. When Thelian got to the creek, he made a point to jump over the water, rather than splashing through it.

“If someone screws it up,” He muttered, “It won’t be me.” The Echani was exceptionally confident that if something went wrong – which lets be honest, was likely – that it wouldn’t be his fault. Only time would tell if that particular theory would hold true.

For several minutes, the Padawans would continue their trek unimpeded – carving a path through the verdant Kashyyyk wilderness and deeper into the forests. On more than one occasion, the pair had to maneuver across exceptionally questionable looking rope-bridges, connecting the deep canyons that carved down to the dangerous forest floor.

After a few more minutes, the pair came to yet another rope bridge. This one, however, appeared to have not lasted the test of time – leaving only the wooden posts that indicated that it was there at one point or another.

Thelian squinted at the sight, briefly glancing over the edge. The vegetation was thick and overgrown, and it was impossible to see the forest floor. As such, judging the distance to the forest floor wasn’t really an option. Jumping the distance was their only real option, though that in of itself was questionable.

"Well, shit."

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Thelian may not have been mean to Varyn - and that was a good thing - but man was the guy grouchy. He practically radiated grouch. How did you fit so much grouch into so few years? Varyn couldn't imagine.

You're not wrong, he said as Thelian commented about it being a lot of walking. But that was just the way of things. They were out here for the purpose of walking.

As grumpy went on to mutter about how he wouldn't screw things up, Varyn gave a half-laugh and a Mk. It wasn't done to be intentionally antagonistic, but simply because he wasn't entirely sure how to deal with grumpy gills besides not becoming offended or upset.

Varyn had an absolute vice-clamp on the rope bridge handles as he crossed. He hated heights and felt like he was going to absolutely keel over as they crossed the bridges, wanting nothing more than to turn around and leave at this point.

Though he managed to make it across, he was not made to feel any better as they reached one that had fallen altogether. I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, he thought to himself, heart pounding. He couldn't stop picturing himself plunging over the edge to some horrible impact with the ground far, far, far below.

Stop thinking about that. Move on. What to do next, he told himself, forcing his mind onto the issue in front of them.

I have a grapple line, he said after a moment. Basic climbing gear was something that seemed logical to him to bring. I think it can reach across. We'll have to go one at a time though, he said. Perhaps they could use the Force to levitate it back across the gap.

@Altaris