Ask Yavin IV Through the Never

[Crix Aran]

The Jungles of Yavin 4 were full of stuff.

Not very descriptive but not incorrect either - as a jungle they were naturally teeming with life of all varieties but what most people didn't really remember was that the forest moon had been the site of several battles during the Galactic Civil War. Certainly, most famously it had been the site of the destruction of the First Death Star but the Empire's retaliation against the base on Yavin 4 had been swift and brutal. Even with most of their personnel having escaped, the Rebel Alliance put up a fight.

The remains of their battle could be found scattered around the moon. While nowhere near as plentiful as Jakku when it came to scrap and salvaged starship parts, Yavin had its fair share as well. A recent fly-over by one of the members of the Temple Defense Force had pointed out something of interest during the patrol; the mostly intact remains of an old A-Wing from the Galactic Civil War.

A note had been put up in the Temple and little more had come of it until he'd heard that someone wanted to go out to the ship to fetch some things and salvage others. As a mechanic, Crix was very interested in getting a look at the old interceptor but he'd not really thought it important enough to bother actually going out there for. However, when he heard that a Padawan by the name of Emilia was looking to head out for her own reasons, he signed right on up to assist her in her goals.

... and by that he meant he caught up with her on her trek to the downed starfighter, grinning as he jumped down from one of the trees to land on the trail with her.

"Hey!" he greeted her brightly with a slight tilt of his head and a boyish grin, "Going my way?"

@Stratus

 

[Emilia Vestalis]

YAVIN IV
LATE MORNING

The temple on Yavin IV, Emilia had found, was really the only man-made structure for as far as the eye could see. Everything else on the forested planet was, well, forest. Teeming with life that more than occasionally threatens to take away your own. Having been raised on the urban Corellia, she wasn’t quite used to seeing this much greenery all in the same place but that was what she loved about the temple and the moon it stood upon: the serenity.

That all changed, of course, when a young Jedi suddenly appeared right in front of her, seemingly out of nowhere. Emilia was startled by him and leapt backwards, both of her hands clinging to the strap of her backpack slung over her shoulder. Quickly seeing that he wasn’t a threat, just an idiot, she lowered her guard and took a deep breath... before giving him a playful shove and chuckling. “Well, I was going your way, but now that you’ve turned up I’d probably much more enjoy heading back to the Temple than walking the rest of the way with your dumb ass”, she jibed.

Emilia carried on down the narrow jungle path, this time walking backwards so that she could keep eye contact with the Human-Zabrak that had joined her. “So what are you doing this far out here, anyway?”

​

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

Her reaction was priceless.

He knew that jumping out like that would be worth the effort it took to make sure he ran a little faster to get ahead of her. Ah nothing like a meet-cute in the middle of the forests of Yavin 4 to start the day off right. Of course she immediately tried to cover up her surprise with some snark but Crix saw right through it.

After all, he used the same technique himself often enough.

“Oh dear – you’ve wounded me!” he declared theatrically, “How will my life go on knowing that someone else knows I’m a dumbass? That was such a well kept secret too!”

Crix gave her a wider grin and a wink for good measure. Never could tell if someone in the Jedi was going to be one of the few who didn’t believe sarcasm existed or if they were going to be normal. A Galaxy without a little spark of sarcasm would be a dull place to him but whatever.

“Me? Well I heard a lil buzz around the Temple about how an urbanite Paddy-wan was stepping out for a trek into the forest.” He admitted even as he rubbed the back of his head with one hand slightly sheepishly, “Figured I’d tag along considering you were heading for that crashed ship.”

Of course he’d heard she was going in that direction – she could have gone for literally anything in that direction but the ship was enough of a landmark to take a bit of a guess.

“Name’s Crix. What’s your name then, Corellia?” he asked casually, using the name of the planet her accent was from in place of her name for now, “If we’re gonna braze the wilderness together, gotta know each others name right?”

@Stratus

 

[Emilia Vestalis]

Emilia couldn’t help but laugh and roll her eyes at his impromptu performance in the forest. ”Ahah! Well, you see, I only figured it out because of my masterful detective skills. Only those with a trained eye for these kinds of things," she tapped an index finger to her temple to emphasise, ”could’ve spotted the clues that you are, in fact, a dumbass.”. She also tossed in a little wink to match his as the cherry on top.

”Oh is that what you figured, huh? How kind of you to join me on my epic journey; how could I have ever survived without you!” While Emilia made it sound like she was being sarcastic, she did actually appreciate his company, since her training up to this point had been limited to say the best. In reality, she should’ve asked someone back at the temple to join her on her journey out, but being the new kid in town with very few friends, and eager to prove herself to her new family, she’d stupidly snuck off on her own (obviously not carefully enough if this fool had heard rumours about her little adventure).

”I suppose you’re right, Crix.” she stopped walking for a moment and held out her hand for him to shake, ”I’m Emilia, some people call me Em, but you may not” she smirked at her own joke.

Having shaken hands, she turned around to continue on their journey, and instantly caught her foot on a sprawling vine, embarrassingly faceplanting into the dirt below with a yelp. Kriff.

​

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

Crix just smirked a little bit and shot back a wink.

"Glad to see my secret is safe with you."

He just laughed at her sarcasm about needing someone to help her survive on the quest. She might be telling a joke but she was also an urban kid from Corellia wandering around Yavin 4 - without a lightsaber by the looks of it. It wasn't as dangerous as, say, Dxun but there was enough on the moon to worry about. His own experiences with Piranha Beetles had driven that point home rather handily.

Thankfully he scarred pretty well given the healing Zathria was able to provide him with.

He gave her hand a quick shake with a grin firmly in place.

"Nice to meet you Lia." he said, immediately making a different nickname for her since the first one was 'off limits' it seemed, "I'll try to restrict myself to going at your pace, you know, just so I don't leave you behind."

Of course then she tripped on the vine and Crix blinked a few times before stepping over the vine to offer her a hand up, his grin gone as he was genuinely a little concerned.

"Hey you alright Lia?" he asked her before he froze up, hand held out for her, "Lia. Don't. Move."

The vine she had tripped on had rattled a tree above them enough that something had landed on the small of Emilia's back, something that was barely visible due to its skin. A crystal snake, one of the ambush predators of Yavin 4 and one with amazing camouflage - and venom that was quite potent.

@Stratus