OOC: No worries, I expected that a new scene might take a little extra effort to set up.


Koi endured that curiosity of Tsareevah's family (tribe? city?) with as much gracious patience and friendliness as she could muster, despite feeling as though she was fighting with her impatience and frustration.  She had little chance of sorting through so many minds for insight into the native language and culture. How uncomfortable it is to be the Chosen one.    She thought to herself -- possibly even loud enough for Wix to hear her.  Whether she liked it or not, this was important to them -- and it was only polite to respect their culture.

Once they are finally on their way, Koi resists the urge to hurry Musa Kund, and makes a quiet gesture for silence when anyone tries to hurry their pace.  The exchange makes her..wistful for her own father.  And something about his jokes about escaping seem a little bitter-sweet, as though he is carefully making happy memories for his granddaughter.

If possible with their comms, Koi will try to take a picture of them together without them noticing.

After letting Tsareevah endure some teasing, she does take pity on her and asks them both,[Language unknown:  "Sa ngil tong pehill lo reatedhou?"]

[Language unknown: "E ie sateetll" ]She replied as she made short jab into the dirt with the butt of her spear.

[Language unknown: "Thahiseve wick nowa ure fickun adar eenun ca k les, hi meli p ica si thantinde day ainfo seacev, e tritwa u fi i essicaure. E fi hiekte di se, ul hihepo romuredin, noompl hapl nttewhca, amethiour ekle wausdi, hatle roet wh o som nehebe ssriwa. K ing niill ta prhe o le it adno stchsi."]

Koi is thoughtful for a moment, and doesn't hurry to fill the silence.  In part, it's because she's scrambling to piece together the unfamiliar words in this new language -- but hopefully it just looks stoic and wise. [Language unknown:  , "Ceha. Ev m p thles aiof paerec. Seho red. N areac a lesfi prodinwilsti. N eau p lar..at pewa-ssre yin..m eenng p Ad ec."]She smiles sadly at Tsareevah and her grandfather.  Koi knows that sometimes she will not be able to find a peaceful solution, and it will hurt her heart.[Language unknown: "Nteca plteou arlat hoch'sifo e eve staio, wheyinive i acbut out. Outwa ectereles ersbutven ssisss unthi atarto?"]

"There are. Travel between them takes multiple days to travel between them. It is dangerous, and few do it frequently."

Musa, chiming in with embarrassing humor "Speaking of, whatever happened to that trader fellow you were enraptured with? You know, when you and him were found that one time by the lake together..."

"Grandfather! Please!" Cutting the story off there, and causing him to chuckle. His bemused laughter shortly came to an end as the group approached the hill, making the way up to the ridge. There was an attempt to carve a road or a path into the hill. Though it provided even footing, it did nothing to help with the angle. Tsareevah instinctively came close to help him, to which he gently pushed her aside.

"At least let me try to get up before you coddle me."

Koi glances at Oro and quietly translates, "They mentioned that there are other tree villages, but they are several days apart and travel to them is considered quite dangerous.  But it sounds like they are friendly to each other."

She glances around to make sure Musa isn't paying attention, and whispers to Oro, "can you pretend to trip or something so that Elder Musa has a reason to help you?  I think he's more ill than he would like to let on, and could use some support -- but he doesn't want to worry his granddaughter."

"What? No," She replied incredulously, as she looked over at the elder native "He seems fine. I'm sure he'll ask for help when he needs it"

Mel rubbed his fingers through your hair as he moved ahead, walking immediately behind Musa

"Thanks Mel,"  Koi muttered softly and stifled a sigh.  Even before she became aware of the Force, Koi and Mel were the ones who woke up because there was a subtle change in the pitch engine's hum -- and went looking around for the problem.

At least Mel was looking after him a bit.  He was strong enough to catch Elder Musa if necessary.  The slow pace seemed to invite conversation. After a moment Koi asks Oro, "What did you do last night? It sounded like I missed a party."   After a moment she adds, completely innocent of any innuendo, "Did any of the warriors show you his spear?  Apparently everyone is quite good with their spear, because they use them a lot."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:20, Sat 10 July 2021.

Oro's face was frozen in a stunned gaze

"Koi...I don't know what to say" she stumbled for her words "do you hear the words you're using? Are you really asking me THAT question?"

"Well, there is no need to be snobby about it. Just because it's different than what you're used to." Koi sniffs, completely misinterpreting Oro's shock as some kind of blaster-superiority-complex. "It's just everyone here is apparently a skilled spear warrior with admirable stamina - according to AG at least.  I thought you'd be interested in getting to know them better."

She pauses, looking concerned. "You aren't self conscious, are you Oro? I mean, I know you can't practice wit a spear very well on a small crowded ship, but it's like riding a speeder -- right? You never forget."

Koi adds with an air of earnest helpfulness, "If you want me to talk to anyone with you, just let me know okay?"

"Are you serious?" She asked, incredulous "Can you really be this naïve and unaware?"

"Your dad was a farmer right?" She asks, speaking more quietly "Are you asking me whether the locals sowed their seeds in my fertile ground? If so, the answer is, beyond any doubt, NO"

"Actually my dad was a botanist...oh..oh" Koi pinks about the ears, "I never took you for a monocotyledon, but I suppose I should be more open minded. I'm sorry if I was teasing you more than I though I was. Er." Koi runs a hand through her hair, "Most of my peers growing up had cloaca and they didn't really have the same metaphors. I get mixed up."

"If you're not interested in them romantically, you could have just said..I haven't asked about..umm..biomechanics, but they do have a tradition of romance." Koi sounds and odd blend of exasperated and wistful, despite her salacious teasing.  Bold in allegory, Koi was rather timid when it came to asking someone to dance.

She gives Oro a sidelong glance, and murmurs. "I didn't want to be too serious, but the information about their people is correct. They are all warriors..their lives are too dangerous to be otherwise. I thought it might be common ground." Koi looks intensely sad for a moment, and glances back towards where the 'Rose is parked. "aren't we all fighting something ten-fold our size -- and far too often?"

Koi pauses to look over the scrublands below, it really was a lovely climb.  It was worse taking a moment to savor the iron-tang scent of the dust, the patchy mosaic of earth and plants, and slightly cool breeze. The village tree seemed like a neighboring island of green. "They seem happy to be friends, but it's hard to start the conversation that would make us more than a curiosity."

"We could take a lesson from them I guess." She mused in response "With the constant threat of the Empire, the First Order, and the rest, you'd think we would all be trained to be warriors by now. If we were, maybe we could actually win this war."

"Sorry" She said with a weak smile "Not the conversation you want to have, I'm sure. Just weighs down a lot. If we don't do something to end this all, and end it soon, this place won't remain a paradise for long. If you want to talk about making friends, you should try AG. I spent most of the night trying to keep him out of trouble. He kept the party going longer than I could, so who knows what he got up to?"

"If he got intimately familiar with the locals, more power to him I guess. He's finally finding out what enjoying life means, rather than just taking it."

Koi chuckles, Don't be too hard on him Oro. He's being very nice about the fact that I'm essentially the worst monster he could imagine." Koi's tone is light, but there is a quiet note of sadness. Sadness for herself (some of the things he thought of jedi were unkind) and for AG. She can't imagine not being allowed to listen to music, read whatever she wanted, or even go for a walk. After a moment, Koi adds matter-of-fact, "also he's very hung-over. It just seems like kicking a fellow when he's down to tease him too much when he's still paying last night's tab."

She gives Oro a side-eyed look. "How much trouble did he get into? Do I want to know before the Captain finds out? I'm kind of curious, but I'm also realizing that ignorance is a bird that is hard to catch again once you let it out of the bag.

"I couldn't tell you. He  hadn't gotten in too much trouble before I tapped out. I was trying to keep him from drinking. What might get them drunk could kill us. But, that didn't seem to work out. Last I recall is he was trying to participate in some group dance. I told him not, that didn't work. I told him to keep his shirt on, but he thought  it best to go native. I think they tried to paint his chest. Things are hazy after that."

Oro looks back at him "I doubt you would get more details if you asked him, but I think that he was able to leave the village without being chased and hunted is a sign that if he did get into any trouble, it wasn't real trouble."

Koi smiles, "As much assurance as we get, huh? I stayed up pretty late, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. There was definitely chest painting. Even if AG accidentally joined their clan, It's safer in the village than a space port. So I'm glad shirts could be loosened without having to look over your shoulder, you know?"

She hesitates and then asks, "you like him alright, then?"

"Couldn't ask for a more agreeable sworn enemy, I guess. I still don't trust him. He behaves well enough when he's stuck with us, but what does he do when he gets to taste real freedom? Maybe he sticks around, maybe he goes back to the First Order, maybe he goes and works for the Hutt's, I don't know."

"For whatever it counts, I will say that if luck had worked out differently, and he was one of ours, we probably could have been friends."

"I hope he stays." Koi admits, "I know it will be hard for him..when we have to report. But I think you are a good team."

Koi pauses,"I think I might ask Tsareevah to teach me spear-fighting after we get back. Will you do it with me?"  After a moment she adds, "not for sexy reasons. Just for stab-bad-guy reasons."

"I don't see us staying that long for it  to be useful" Oro said with a shrug "Course, you learned a language with a nap, so who knows what you might pick up with your Jedi stuff, but I think I'm good."

"If I've gotten close enough to an enemy to need to stab them, something's gone very wrong."

No sooner had she said that Musa took a stumble going up the  hill. Mel was there to catch him from completely falling. While still being defiant from relying completely on help, his spare hand held tightly to the Herglic's arm.

Tsareevah made a quick glance at you before looking at the remaining distance to climb, and hurried close, walking just behind.

Koi let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when Mel caught Elder Musa. She was grateful that Mel trusted her and stepped in -- even when she couldn't explain herself clearly.

She didn't feel...agile...enough to catch the village leader with the force. A true Jedi Master would have probably lifted him gently with the force, but like my dad would say -- it's easier to bring an umbrella than stop the rain.   She glances at Oro, but he never said that it could be hard to convince people to bring an umbrella. Thank all flowers for Mel!

"Come on," she said to Oro, "Let's keep up -- the sooner we get to the top, the sooner Elder Musa can rest."

The hillside got noticeable and sharply more steep. Musa Khund held tightly onto Mel the whole  way as his breathing became more labored along the way.

"You don't need to kill yourself to prove a point, grandfather!" Tsareevah said with a tense voice.

"Bah!" He responded, waving her off with a free hand "You don't understand, this is something I must do."

"There is noone alive who doubts your honor, you stubborn fool."

"All honor is fleeting" Musa responded as he stopped walking. He looked behind him, to see you and the entourage, but more to see how far he had gone. "I needed to do this for myself." He gives a solid slap against Mel's arm, who correctly guesses the signal. Using both arms, he picks up the elder alien off theground completely and walks up the remainder of the way. With the additional weight, even the Herglic struggles a bit with the hike, and trying to finish sooner to get it over with, tries to hasten his pace towards the top. It's difficult to keep up with him, even for the two soldiers who are trained for endurance.

By the time you reach the top, everyone is breathing heavy, except the natives. Putting your hands on your knees to help get more breaths in, you don't immediately notice the Republic ship crashed into the mountainous terrain, matching almost exactly with the fighter you now have in your possession aboard the Rose.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:53, Wed 11 Aug 2021.

Undignified, Koi concentrates on sucking wind and fleeting promises to herself to do a better job keeping in shape while on the ship. Apparently dodging stormtroopers isn't a good cardio work out. "Can I be carried next? You're in really good shape Mel. She pants in Mel's general direction, 'or is now a good time to mention that we can use the comm link to call the Captain for a ride down."

After she manages to catch her breath, Koi takes a long drink of water, pushes the sweaty hair out of her eyes, and looks around. After a minute she sees the crashed ship, but remembering the holo recording, she looks around for signs of the stormtroopers remains as well.

"Was this where you met Master Akoda?" She asks Elder Musa softly.

"Yes" He replied slowly as he looked around the area "When I was much younger. Younger than Tsareevah is now." He had his feat under him again, taking deliberate steps.

"It was such a strange feeling. I was scared, more afraid for my life than I had been on any hunt I had ever been taken on. And yet, curious and amazed. The God's themselves had come down to stand among us, and this one, this Master Akoda, saved my life..."

Koi is quiet as she listens, and doesn't speak afterwards in case Elder Musa wants to reminisce more or just contemplate this event.  After all, Koi herself has plenty to ponder.

She still isn't sure if Master Akoda died here. His crashed ship suggests yes...but she isn't in a hurry to underestimate someone who pulled Tie-fighters out of the sky.

"Is it permitted to go to his ship?"   She asks.  If it is, she climb over to the wreck.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:14, Sun 15 Aug 2021.

There were two large black marks on the mountainside, above the summit where you are currently at. Both have remnants of crashed Republic starfighters as the centers, which have broken apart and scattered across the side over the many years.

Master Akoda's ship is likewise a crumpled mess. There are still scars along the terrain of the summit where the starfighter skated across the ground into the mountainside, where it crumbled up around the nose. The cabin of the starfighter was well built and protected the Jedi Master from the collision, and enough to allow him to escape.

Koi figures out that this is probably where Master Akoda fought off the people trying to kill him. Unless someone stops her, she starts climbing over to the wreckage of the jedi's ship.  It has probably been picked clean of anything useful or decorative by now.

And there is definitely nothing left of the Old Republic ships.

She sits down for a minute to sort out her thoughts. I'm pretty sure Master Akoda never left -- at least not in those ships.  So why is the Force so strong here?  Did he perish?  Is it possible he is here, still alive?

If he's alive, he would be very, very old..but Koi isn't sure what's possible with the Force. Regardless, there is a strong Force presence around here. Maybe if we find that, we will know more.  Taking a few deep breaths, she tries to meditate.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:50, Fri 20 Aug 2021.