Ask Yavin IV Pathfinders

[Jacata Lurel]

Yavin IV - Jungle​

The ship rocked back and forth as it descended towards the jungle floor. Jacata and the other Padawan he had been teamed with had been blindfolds and sound blocking head phones deprive them off sensory information as they were taken out into the woods. He felt a hand on his arm pull him up as he was led out of the ship. The instructions were given to all of the Padawans before they left. They were going to be dropped off in the middle of no where with little supplies and needed to make their way back to the Temple.

As Jacata stepped out on the jungle floor, the blindfold was removed and ambient jungle noises filled his ears as the head phones were removed. It had been atleast an hour, maybe longer. They could really be anywhere. "Here." the Jedi Knight who had escorted them out here said, tossing the small pack to the other Jedi who was with Jacata. The bag contained a small ration for each of them and a way to signal the Jedi if they were in trouble and needed to be picked up, though doing so would mean a failure for the assignment. The Jedi were also monitoring the Padawan's vitals, if either of them dropped to dangerous levels, they would also be extracted. Other than the pack given to them, they were allowed no other supplies and more importantly, no weapons.

"See you back at the Temple, Padawans." the man said before boarding the transport and disappearing into the sky. Within seconds there was only the sounds of the jungle as it enveloped the two Padawans. Jacata turned towards the other guy, he wasn't really familiar with him. "Guess its me and you on this one." he said outreaching a hand. "I'm Jacata." he said, introducing himself with a warm tone.

@Orbit

 

[Vren Mallick]

With a beckon, Vren felt the hard metal underneath his feet turn into a sort of soft mush as their ship finally landed and he was led out. Hot air padded his face menacingly and his head shifted while he grew used to it. It had been a relatively long flight, the Padawan able to feel it throughout his body to confirm it.

The ground had changed underneath his feet but his eyes and ears were still covered, leaving him helpless to know where he had traveled to and how far it really was. The only details he knew were that he was part of a team and that no weapons were allowed, both his training sabers taken away at the beginning. Thankfully, the blindfold and the headphones were removed shortly upon landing, the rays of the sun immediately striking his eyes, both of them fluttering momentarily before accustoming.

Vren glanced around him, noting the flush vegetation that completely surrounded them as the chirping of bugs and other animals formed a sort of concert at their presence. Then he caught the fellow Padawan beside him as he gave a once over before he was distracted by a bag being tossed toward him.

Catching it with one hand, Vren explored the contents momentarily before sliding the lone strap onto his opposite shoulder. With the abrupt exit from the Knight, the Echani covered his eyes as the ship's engines engaged, branches and leavings blowing past as the metal transport lifted before it just disappeared in the distance.

The two completely alone, Vren faced his partner afterward and offered his own hand to shake, the warm tone reciprocated, "V." It was the first time the two have actually met but they would need to trust each other quickly. With quick introductions made and inspection of the area afterward, it wasn't hard to conclude there wasn't much to view from where they stood. Massive trees towered over them, vegetation plentiful on the ground floor as well or even growing between the trees, all relatively the same and preventing any ability to collect any idea of where they were.

Returning his attention to Jacta, he jutted his head in a direction before beginning to proceed forward, speaking as he did, "Well, we should get moving and find a vantage point. Get our bearings before we go any farther." The path ahead wasn't too difficult but it certainly didn't make it easy. Vren would either have to pull his feet through the plants, mud, or just push vegetation out of the way as the pair would be battered by the humid heat. "You have a guess how long before night approaches?" They would need to think about shelter eventually.

@Raydo

 

[Jacata Lurel]

The commotion of the departing ship soon passed, Jacata brushing off some debris that had been thrown up by ship's engines. He nodded when the Padawan gave his name. At least it was an easy one to remember. Jacata examined their immediate surroundings. They were surrounded by thick jungle, but that didn't give them much of hint on where they were at.

He swatted a bug that had landed on his neck before turning his attention back to V. He nodded at the suggestion. It would be unwise to head in any direction until they had at least some idea of what direction they needed to head. It would be difficult enough to navigate without their bearings. Unless they could find a cliff of some sort, they might need to resort to climbing one of the taller trees, hoping that its branches could hold one of them, allowing them to get high enough.

He looked up at the trees and the beams of light pushing their way through the canopy. It was hard to get an exact read on where the sun was, the trees branches breaking up the light. "Maybe a few hours. We will want to spend some time gathering some supplies if we can, and maybe try and get a fire going. And make some sort of weapons if we can..." he offered back. It would be no easy task to start a fire with all of the dampness that surrounded them but it was possible. Besides the obvious benefits of a fire, it would also serve to scare away some of the more likely potential predators. Making a makeshift spear shouldn't be too difficult.

They had a long list of tasks they needed to accomplish and that was before they took a step towards home. The feeling of being overwhelmed pushed in on Jacata. The Jungle seeming to close in around them. He stopped, took a deep breath. They would just need to take one thing at a time. "Right, lets see if we can quickly get our bearings and go from there." he said.

The next half hour was spent finding a tree that looked tall enough that would allow them to get some sort of vantage point. "We can both go up a ways, though we will likely only want to send one on the higher, thinner branches." he said, really only guessing. These were large trees, perhaps the taller branches could still support them.

There was only one way to find out and with that, he started climbing.

@Orbit

 

[Vren Mallick]

The jungle was a strange phenomenon for the Echani at least. On one hand, he disliked it because there was nothing for him to gain a read on, the only audience being trees and insects besides Jacta. On the other hand, Vren couldn't help but appreciate the openness of his surroundings, the relative silence compared to that of the temple. It was different and he surprisingly found he enjoyed it somewhat. Normally, when passing down a hall or anywhere with people, each of them was a book begging to be read and it was nice to finally have a break from that constant distraction.

A few hours was a short but doable amount of time to achieve the items that Jacta had listed off. Vren didn't know what fully lived in the jungle and he didn't want to find out what stalked around at night without a fire or a weapon to protect himself with too. As they walked through the vegetation, he noticed how the Mirialan paused for a moment to breathe. It may have went unnoticed by others but it stuck out like a sore thumb to the Echani and he stopped as well to turn and look at him.

When Jacta would bring his gaze to Vren, he would find the fellow padawan staring at him for a moment before he spoke, "One step at a time, that's it. I got your back Jacta, you got mine." It would be the only words he offered on the matter unless Jacta wanted to speak on it further. While he was partner for their survival training, it also meant he was there to make sure to be each other's support in case they needed it. Vren didn't want to patronize though and he continued on to find a big enough tree.

After finding a suitable candidate, Jacta suggested only one going higher up then the other and Vren gave him an upward nod in agreement. "I'll do it. Shorter and lighter then you." He felt that left it up to very little debate between them with the thinner branches. "You can try and collect any suitable branches for a fire or weapons." With a shrug following his words, Vren would step up to the tree and begin to climb it, using footholds and branches to heave himself upward.

Not knowing Jacta's progress, Vren moved with ease as he climbed in smooth motions. He was naturally nimble and found it generally easier as his movements came one after another without pause. About more then halfway up and slightly breathless, the Echani would grip onto a branch before leaning back to check on the other padawan.