Ask We're (Not) On A Boat

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan inhaled sharply as his skin made contact with the water, finding it to be cooler than he'd remembered. He shivered slightly but pushed onwards until his body adjusted, following Lia out of the cave and towards open more water in the general direction of the port. The first traces of the rising sun were visible on the horizon, dusting the sky with a faint orange that heralded the coming down. Ruzaan treaded water for a few moments and just took in the view, eventually tearing his focus away from that to concentrate on what Lia was saying.

The Togruta matched his friend's smile. "Deal!" he agreed, a slight thrill of competition running through him. He immediately began his search, bobbing his head down under the water and ignoring the fact that he had little idea as to what kind of favor he'd ask Lia for if he won- that was a problem for Future Ruzaan.

The Togruta quickly realized that finding the coral reef Lia had described was, at least for him, easier said than done. With his natural sense of spatial awareness somewhat diminished underwater and having no source of light to search with, Ruzaan found that he had to dive down several feet in order to get a sense of what lay on the sea floor. Occasionally he would catch a glimpse of Lia while he searched; amidst the disorienting polarity of the surface and the sea, knowing that she was nearby somehow helped him center himself.

Nearly a dozen dives later, Ruzaan finally located the coral reef. The Togruta could tell right away that it was every bit as unique and beautiful as the cave he'd shown Lia, so he treaded water for a minute or so while he caught his breath from the intensity of his search. He was confident by now that Lia had beaten him to the reef, so he felt no rush to explore it until he was ready.

Spoiler: Coral Reef Roll

Natural four xD

@LadyRen

 

[Liana Mason]

Ruz was in, and Lia's eyes just lit up in excitement again. "Ready, set, go!". She counted down, however then immediately started to dive, calling onto the light and actually conjuring a little beam of light to help her search. She swam as quickly as she could, a sense of playful competitiveness flaring up inside her.

She was actually successful just a little while later, finding the reef without much difficulty, maybe even so as if the Force had slightly tugged at her to nudge her into the right direction, so that with a wide smile she surfaced again. "Ruz?". He wasn't there yet. Underwater even, and apperently struggling to find it.

She patiently waited for him, her smile half triumphantly, half amused. "There you are!", she remarked in delight as he did pop up near her at some point, still slightly disoriented from the looks of it. "It's right here!".

@SlagathorTheUnknown

Spoiler: roll

17!

.

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan treaded water while he got his bearings again, orienting himself using the shore and the sun peeking above the horizon for reference. Although his face tingled in mild embarrassment in response to the amused smirk Lia was giving him, he felt no regret for accepting the friendly competition; if anything, he was now even more impressed by his fellow Padawan. "How did you make a light?" he said, curious and a little awed. "You'll have to teach me sometime!"

The Togruta ducked his head under the water to get a better glimpse of the reef, opening himself up to the Force and taking in the life that shimmered from within the pretty coral. It was, in a word, breathtaking, with fish of all shapes and colors playing amidst the reef. He surfaced again, smiling his gratitude warmly in Lia's direction. "Lia, that's... incredible." Almost beyond his capacity to describe; the word 'wow' kept echoing within his mind. "Incredible" he repeated. "Thank you so much for showing this to me!" So much about this night had been special, filling the Togruta with a comfortable warmth.

Grey eyes met Lia's, and an eyebrow raise foretold his question. "You definitely won the race" he admitted, grinning ruefully in acknowledgement of his own efforts; a smile that quickly transformed to one more playful. "What do I owe you?"

@LadyRen

 

[Liana Mason]

Ruz seemed a little disappointed, yet still cheerful enough they has found their target. "Oh a Knight once taught me...it's not even that complicated. I guess the temple is the better place to teach someone, but yes, sure!". If Lia had known he didn't know how earlier, she wouldn't have used the trick. Didn't it mess with the odds?

"You are very welcome! Wait!", she shed her light downwards for him to visibly see, too, and gave him a huge smile as he surfaced again. "It's pretty cool, right? This island is absolutely incredible", she agreed happily, however now noticing that the first rays of sun for touching the horizon.

"I'll have to think about it!", she cheerfully told him, a slightly mischievous smirk crossing her lips, "I can redeem it whenever", she happily remembered him before she directed her gaze at the horizon and its rising sun. "Oh...I believe we should swim back to the port! The ferry must be there soon". Even such fun nights had to end some time and they had a boat to catch after all.

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

"I'm definitely going to take you up on that" Ruzaan said, accepting Lia's offer of future training once they returned to a temple. The calm, peaceful atmosphere of a Jedi temple made for the best learning environment, in his opinion. Still, as Lia lit up the coral reef again for him, he couldn't help but marvel again at its splendor. "This is such a special place. Thank you, Lia" he whispered softly. Gratitude flowed from the Togruta for this beautiful place and for the connection he and Lia had made. Just a few hours ago they'd been strangers; now, he was dreading the end of their time together.

From the sounds of things, though, Lia intended to collect on their bet at some point in the future. Ruzaan opened his mouth to (playfully protest), but just as quickly closed it as he had to admit to himself that there hadn't been any timeline attached to their little bet. "Hmmph. I suppose that's fair..." His attempt at grumpiness evaporated almost as soon as the words left his mouth, though; now, he was even more curious what Lia might come up with. "Now you're just teasing me!"

The coming morning- and with it, their ferry- required a swim back towards the shore where Ruzaan hoped his towel still was. "Race you to the shore?" he said, throwing Lia one more wide smile as without waiting for an answer, he took off towards the beach.

@LadyRen

 

[Liana Mason]

"Perhaps a little!", the bubbly padawan cheerfully admitted, the fresh night air and chilly water still keeping all signs of tiredness away and a wide smirk planted on her lips. "But I'm glad I could share the reef with you". She wasn't just happy about that, but still grateful for the whole night, even if it slowly seemed to fade away.

A faint hint of orange began to bleed into the dark purple sky as the sun announced its approaching visit. Lia gazed at the colorful, mesmerizing display on the horizon, lazily moving arms and legs on the water to remain floating before Ruz came up with another great idea.

"Ohh absolutely!", she chimed, narrowing her eyes to locate the exact position of the sand between the soft waves and threw Ruz another look. "Okay: Ready, set, go." She counted down slowly, but as she reached the 'go', she didn't waste a single second before she threw herself under the surface with a huge splash. She went for a dive first, wanting to pick up some speed underwater before hopefully winning this playful race.

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan took off at the end of Lia's countdown, feeling more or less recovered from the strain of his coral reef search a few minutes ago. Somewhere near him in the water, he could sense Lia nearby as the two Padawans raced towards the shore. As he swam, Ruzaan imagined making it a closer race than last time, or perhaps even winning; between choking on a burrito and failing to find the coral reef in a timely manner, he hadn't exactly performed like the senior Padawan that he was.

So perhaps it was fitting that he would end the night on a clunker, as well. About halfway to the shore, the Togruta floundered in the water as he swam into something that quickly entangled him; a discarded fishing net that resisted his efforts to free himself. The more he struggled, the more restrained he became, until Ruzaan realized that winning the race was not only out of the picture... he was struggling to keep his head above the water.

Not again...

Spoiler: Result

Natural Two

@LadyRen

 

[Liana Mason]

Lia began to swim eagerly, literally giving her everything as a new spark of playful competitiveness had been ignited. The padawan swam and swam and was even somewhat in front of Ruz, until suddenly, all she felt was a stinging pain in her leg. It was as if something had dug its sharp teeth into her leg and even if she didn't know just yet, that was exactly what was happening.

A larger predator fish had mistaken the little leg for its prey and without any warning, a shriek was all Ruz would hear from his padawan friend before the blonde disappeared under the surface as the sea creature took her with it. A splash of blood tainted the dark water and the padawan swallowed so much water that her strength to free herself was wanting quickly.

@SlagathorTheUnknown

Spoiler: ...

Natural 1...RIP

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

As a nomadic species evolve to roam the Turu-turu grass plains of Shili, constantly on the alert for the predatory Akul, Togrutas hated feeling confined, restrained, or otherwise trapped. There was a time when a situation like the one Ruzaan was in- fighting a losing battle against a net while trying to stay afloat- would've reverted him to near-primal instincts in a fight to survive.

Fortunately for both him and for Lia, Ruzaan had received Jedi training... and this was not the first time his life had been endangered. The Togruta had come to realize that a lot of his experience had come on the wrong end of some kind of mistake or mishap, so even something embarrassing like this wasn't a cause for undue panic. That didn't mean that he wasn't scared, of course, but he wasn't ruled by his fears.

Rather than fight against the net, Ruzaan managed to get a deep breath of air before allowing himself to sink downwards underneath the waves. Physical discipline and meditation techniques meant that he could make that breath last far longer than many humanoids, so Ruzaan set about utilizing another skill he'd picked up along his journey; asking for help.

Ruzaan sent out his senses, searching for Lia amongst the water. His sense of spatial awareness was dampened under the waves, but his connection to the Force was as strong as it had ever been, buoyed by the pleasant feelings he had about the night he'd shared with Lia. It didn't take long to find her as pain and danger spiked through the Force; a rush of bubbles escaped Ruzaan's mouth in a silent shout of outrage. Just as quickly, he snapped his mouth shut; he needed Lia's help, and she needed his.

Ruzaan focused his consciousness on the creature attacking Lia; mental manipulation had never been his strong suit, but this was a beast and not a humanoid. It was but the work of a moment to flood its primitive brain with feelings of fear and panic; simply a redirection of the very emotions Ruzaan had learned to coexist with. Lia would feel its grasp around her ankle release suddenly as the fish, its brain experiencing something akin to a random panic attack, concluded that perhaps there was a bigger fish out there and darted off to a safer depth.

Around the same time, Ruzaan felt his bare feet touch the seafloor. He glanced up; the surface now seemed so far away, but he still had air and energy left to bunch his legs and thrust himself upwards; towards the surface, the sunrise, and Lia. With the Force aiding him, his head would break the surface for just one moment before he vanished back beneath the waves, hoping his fellow Padawan would hear his call.

"Lia!"

@LadyRen

 

[Liana Mason]

Liana was relatively oblivious to the struggle Ruz was involved with, battling against the upcoming fear inside her. It was actual angst as even though Lia was normally a decent swimmer, she was slowly drowning after having breathed in and swallowed all the water, so that her movements were fully panicked and uncoordinated.

Flailing her arms, she simply couldn't get hold of the fish that dragged her into the deep, at least until it suddenly stopped. Still, at this time Lia was faintly blinking, her world swallowed by an impenetrable darkness and still unable to move. Everything faded to black as her senses were dulled by the lack of oxygen, but the last thing she did hear was a loud splash.

-

As Lia woke, a faint light shone down from above before water suddenly erupted from with in her. She threw it up, only then recognizing unfamiliar shapes and noises all around. "Got 'er back", a heavily accented voice said, but she didn't understand a single syllabus, her nails digging into the wooden ground underneath and her chest hurting a lot.

She whirled around, her blurry gaze making out a Togruta, so that a wave of relief immediately washed over her. "Ay, can yo 'er me?". Her gaze remained focused on the Togruta shape, not responding to the strange voice as she heavily began to cough. If Ruz was awake, he'd realize they had been refused by a fishing boat that had apperently planned on fishing the first fish in the morning.

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

"Lia!"

Not a cry for help this time, but a sob of relief as Ruzaan watched her make noises and movements that living creatures did, instead of the awful, unmoving silence that had been Lia for what had felt like hours. As soon as he judged it appropriate- conscious of the fact that Lia was still catching her breath and expelling water- the Togruta wrapped her in an embrace. To hell with the Jedi advice about attachments; Lia was a close friend of his, and saltwater mixed with tears of relief before he finally stepped back.

"Are you alright?" A dumb question to ask, given that she'd nearly died, but for whatever reason it tended to be the first one anybody in the aftermath of a dangerous situation asked. "When Grog and Gorg" the Togruta indicated the pair of Bothan fishermen in the boat with them "pulled you out of the water, you weren't moving..." A fresh wave of tears, almost indiscriminate from the water still dripping off of him, at the memory. "I should never have suggested a race back to the shore, I'm so sorry!"

@LadyRen

 

[Liana Mason]

Lia coughed and coughed, spitting out more water and a shiver already triggering another wave of goosebumps that quickly ornamented her skin as she suddenly felt a familiar embrace. She caught her breath as quickly as she could, the gasping for air soon replaced with a clearing of her throat.

"Oh...hi?", she stuttered, once again another coughing fit hitting her. "I'm...okay". She met his gaze, her thought somewhat spinning and the drenched clothes leaving her in shivers. "What?", as he began telling her about what had happened, she realized that she couldn't even properly recall having been knocked out, but as she felt the throbbing pain in her still bleeding leg, it dawned her.

"Oh no...it's fine. It's still been fun! Apart from...well, that", she gestured around, stopping to look at the fishermen and giving them a friendly wave. "Thank you...for saving me", she gratefully said to them before she glanced back to Ruz. "Well...I guess now we've both had our near-death experiences, I guess it's really time to hit the ferry".

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Being in somewhat better shape than Lia, by virtue of having been fished out of the water before inhaling any, Ruzaan set about tending to Lia as best he could. A blanket from the Bothan's boat- slightly coarse, but clean and warm- was thrown around Lia's shoulders as her face started to regain its normal coloring. The Togruta chuckled weakly at Lia's joke, the tension he'd been feeling over her near-death experience broken just enough to remind him that there was more he could do for Lia than just fret while the fishing skiff brought them to shore. "You're right. This was very fun, for the most part, and I'd love to do something like this again with you soon." The tips of his montrals were burning again, so he focused on her injured leg instead of her face.

"Can I look at your leg?" he asked, holding up both hands and waggling his fingers; he had some skills in healing through the Force, and while it was no substitute for a bacta tank, would make Lia's morning much less painful than it currently was. With her permission, Ruzaan would begin to meditate, his hands held a few inches above the wound on Lia's leg. A soft, azure light would coalesce above her skin, significantly easing the pain and stopping the bleeding as he called on the Force to accelerate the body's natural healing process.

The Togruta opened his eyes as the bottom of the boat bumped against the sandy beach, signaling their return to the shore. Grey eyes looked a question at Lia. "Do you think you can put weight on it?" he asked, fully ready to support his friend if she couldn't walk without assistance. "The ferry isn't far."

@LadyRen

 

[Liana Mason]

Lia was still somewhat dizzy, but the rising sun and fresh morning air made her feel more alive than ever. "Absolutely. But we'll cut out the near-death experiences...", she replied with a smirk before she took a look at her wounded leg. "Oh no, go ahead", she replied, already assuming he planned on healing her.

Liana was rather versed when it came to healing, but in her state, she simply couldn't even think about dedicating herself to such a draining activity. She was overly grateful that Ruz helped her and the immediate pain relief felt great. "Thank you...that's truly appreciated". She gave him a warm, thankful smile before she accepted his help on getting up.

As she stood, it felt like the tendons were still in tact and so with mild assistance of her friend, she started limping towards the ramp. "Thank you very much guys!", she thanked the two fishermen again, wondering whether she could somehow repay them one day, but for now they really had a ferry to catch.

Ruz was right with where the ferry was at, as they were already at the departure pier, thanks to Gorg and Grog. She waved at them again from a distance before they closed in on the actual departure pier of their ferry. "Thanks again...the leg feels much better. Maybe next time we should really try to avoid such catastrophes though".

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

"You're welcome! But you're right, let's not make a habit of this" Ruzaan agreed, grateful that Lia's injury hadn't been more serious. More thanks were also due to the fishermen who had rescued them, although the Bothans seemed to recognize that it was their nets and fish that had endangered the Padawans in the first place and seemed happy to part without further complications stemming from them fishing so close to shore.

Ruzaan tried not to hover as Lia limped across the pier and onto the ferry, but in the end he trusted that she would ask for his help if she needed it. Once aboard the Togruta pointed out a bench before plopping down on it, exhausted by the night's activities. "Yeah, next time let's plan something more casual" he said, fully in agreement with Lia on that matter, and happy that she was open to future adventures. Of course, none of the ideas they'd had this evening should've ended in catastrophe, either, but luck had not been with them, it seemed. "Maybe we meet at a Caf place or something... or just go for a walk in a park somewhere?" he suggested, trying to brainstorm ideas lest the fatigue tugging at his eyes get the better of him. He wanted to stay awake, but soon found himself nodding off on the bench next to Lia as the ferry slipped away from the pier.

/ThrExit

@LadyRen