Log:Jedi Order: Wayward Discovery
Another light in the dark is found.
OOC Date: December 2, 2020
Location: Ossus
Participants: Jedi Order, Vhe Tenara, Kasia Ashkuri, Aryn Cole, Elrych Cometburn, Rune
[Vhe Tenara]
The Jedi have been to Ossus before, several times and Vhe is one of those that can this very planet home. The saber at her side is a remnant of their last visit. Again they come because Vhe was prompted by the ghost of her past to return in search of someone this time, instead of something. The small group left the Nomad behind at the closest clear landing spot and ventured into the once rich and lively mining area - long since abandoned.
The mouth of the cavern is dark and foreboding with little light that penetrates the inky black of its depths. But that is where they are meant to be but why and for whom is unclear at best.
"Be on your guard. The Kirruk's are vicious and deadly." She takse her first step into the dark and then another as she begins to navigate with the others.
[Kasia Ashkuri]
This is Kasia's first trip to Ossus with or without the Jedi, and that means that she's doing the sort of thing people do in new places. She's looking around curiously much like a tourist, trying to take in the sights (as terrifying as they reportedly are) and get a feel for the place. "What are Kirruks?" she asks, sliding a look around at the others. She's wearing trousers today, and a very soft knit top that she wears beneath a jacket. There's a lightsaber beneath said jacket, visible every so often as the golden hilt catches the light.
[Aryn Cole]
"I knew this might come in handy one day," Aryn says as they venture into the dark. Aryn pauses long enough to present a device on her wrist and click its attachment to life. A LED beam of light cut across the dark, eliminating the need for Aryn, or those in her vicinity, to rely on their inherent senses to navigate the dangerous terrain that lay before them. Aryn wears a tunic with tall, stylish boots, and a cape with a hood she's drawn up to protect her hair. "They are big nasty things with big teeth." Aryn says to Kasia, describing practically every monster in the galaxy.
[Elrych Cometburn]
Elrych followed Vhe with out any hesitation. The wastes of Ossus had become a second nature to him, the Orange crested sky and high rocky crevasses treacherous and hard to travel. He had come to visit with Vhe many times since the planet was rediscovered by the Order.
His own lightsaber, while not as ornate as her's, rested at the Corellian's Knights side, barely hidden by a dark green hooded cloak. It was at least as well crafted in functionality with a flare of unique modular options that the ship builders were famous fore.
[Rune]
Rune had traveled far distances in his time alone on the planet, seen many things strange, terrifying, and wonderful to behold. This was the first time in his near ten year existence that he found something wholly created, crafted by hands of sentient beings. The mangey haired man had made his way into the darkness of the tunnel, curious what was here, called by the echoes of his footsteps and wondering who had created just an enormous hole.... and for what?
Something had called him here and, aside from his curiosity, something had pulled him deeper into the cave. Clutching his spear he had gone inside, his wary steps carrying him deeper and deeper, farther from the light of the orange sky he used as his roof. The dirty man had paused to examine a bit of machinery left behind, tapping it thoughtfully with his finger when noises alerted him to more presences. As quick as a flash he had ducked behind the very machinery he had been examining, peering, with squinted eyes, over the strangely cold surface of the beast back toward the brilliant light of the tunnel entrance.
The next thing to reach Rune's ears was something he hadn't heard for nearly a lifetime... voices. This alone stunned the man. Creatures, the vicious predators of Ossus he was familiar with, lived with daily, this all was something new. White knuckled fingers clutched at the metal bars of the contraption, straining to see from where these voices were coming, a mixture of awe, relief, and terror welling up within the savage man. He nods towards Vhe and follows her in, responding to Kasia, after nodding to Aryn's description. "Yeah... They're like Rancors... basically." He offers, "Just like to hang out in caves."
[Vhe Tenara]
The light offered by Aryn's equipment is definitely helpful but limits their scope of view. There is a rumble lower in the mining caverns which translates to the clatter of small pieces from the ceiling and a fine dust that fills the air, clogging the view and making it harder to see. Waving her hand before her, Vhe attempts to clear the air and move the dust out of their way.
"If untamed yes, just like rancors, but perhaps with a bit more dexterity." Vhe turns about, getting a look back the way they had come as the group emerges into a larger section where old machinery had been left to lie - a marker of the past.
She coughs a bit after inhaling a mixture of air, continue to move her hand to try to disperse it faster. That is when her hand reaches down and she pulls out her saber. The brass hilt is held aloft in her hand horizontally before its activiated with a hissing rush. Its soft purr as pale cyan colors and drenches the more of the area around them to add to the light Aryn provides. Several different tunnels branch off from this main cavern and thus provides choices as another rumble in the cavern sends a shower of tiny stones across the floor again.
More dust.
[Kasia Ashkuri]
"Those sound pleasant," Kasia murmurs softly with a sort of amusement that suggests she's been in a lot of situations in her life where nasty creatures have been a threat. "Thank you for the warning. No one ever tell my husband about them or he'll want to hunt them." She's only partly kidding about that last bit. With the light provided by others she squints at the pathway options laid out before them. "Well, I have no idea which way we should go, so I'll trust those of you who have been here before."
[Aryn Cole]
When the ground shakes and dust stirs up, Aryn raises her arm to protect her face, in particular her nose and mouth. When it settles for the moment, an effort is made to place her rebreather in place and make it active. A distinct breath is taken, then another, and the seal is formed. Aryn angles her light down a moment and unholsters a blaster pistol from her side, then orients it ahead. Then there's another rumble, and Aryn adds on. "I believe we might prefer the route that leads away from the source of these.. disturbances. I daresay a more dexterous Rancor is fuel for nightmares; nightmares I am not eager to bring to life.."
[Elrych Cometburn]
Elrych looks over his shoulder towards Kasia just as Vhe turns on her saber, his face awash in the pale blue of her brilliant cyan blade. He gives that cheap Corellian smile of his and laughs, "Yeah... don't bring Hex here. He might not want to leave." He grasps the hilt of his own saber, bringing out the angle-shined and dark-star colored blade made less of metal and more of polymers. It made it light and easy to use quickly. IT might have been in response to that Deep Purr ahead of them. "Yeah Maybe..." Elrych says to Aryn in agreement, blinking a moment before looking to Vhe. "What is it we're looking for again?" She probably told him earlier.
[Rune]
The appearance of four figures causes Rune to widen his eyes and immediately duck behind the rusted out speeder, immediate mistrust spiking in his mind. The last people not of his tribe he had seen slaughtered his hunting party and abducted him as a child. Unbidden the moments of that day come rushing back. Rune tries to steel his nerve, to slow the rapid beating in his chest... but unfortunately only finds more trepidation in the rumble of the stones around.
After the soft clatter of small rocks abates, Rune breathes in a breath of resolve and slips forward to get another view. Dumb luck or what have you, it's then that Vhe's lightsaber flares to life. Technology and the weaponry of the Jedi was not something very familiar or known to the modern Ysanna before he went missing. Now, it's as if a vision from his dreams and a terror from his waking moments all meet him at once. The young man scrambles backwards, narrowly avoiding bumping into a protrusion of the machine, but kicking up a bit more dust and debris in his haste to retreat nearer the wall.
Wide, horrified eyes stare at the edge of the derelict speeder, waiting in numbing terror and abject hope for a glimpse of a figure to come around the edge. The second saber ignites and Rune clutches his shaking spear to his side, chest heaving with the emotions that wrack his body, unsure of what to do or even as simple a question as where to go.
[Vhe Tenara]
"I am not sure a Kirruk could cause that," Vhe remarks, the kirruk tooth swinging from the end of her blade ironically hanging above her head. Her lightsaber shifts and she sweeps her gaze just as Rune dips back and she misses him, the wash of blue light cast across the speeder offering him a depth of shadow to hide in.
The rumbles come again, more shards of stone and rock breaking free hit the ground and a larger one, about foot across slams into the ground some ten feet ahead of them.
"It does not seem structural safe..." and in fact one of the intersections will show a cave in further down with the sweep of the blue light.
"Mmmmm well we can go two and two, see what we find. All I know is that my grandmother drew me here again. I can only imagine its something rather important. I assumed she was referring to a living being, but maybe we are looking for someone already passed? She was not overly clear."
She glances to Aryn and the others.
[Kasia Ashkuri]
"You're not wrong about that," Kasia replies to Elrych, her lips quirking into a smile. "Anywhere there are large beasts to be hunted? He wants to be there." As do a number of other people she employs, which means this secret place might go to her grave. The rumbling makes her tense and glance up warily, as though expecting the place to drop down on their heads at any moment. It's in lowering her wary eyes that she spots movement of... something. A glint of something metallic. "Ah." Her voice lowers and sounds very calm, as she angles her head in the direction of the derelict speeder. "I think there's something there." She doesn't rush in, but she does slowly begin to move in that direction. Being not entirely sure of what she saw, her hand moves to the weapon tucked beneath her jacket, just in case whatever moved is something with lots of sharp claws or teeth and a penchant to try and kill her.
[Aryn Cole]
At Kasia's prompt to look /there/ Aryn points her weapon and simultaneously orients her light in the /there/ direction. <"Hmm.."> She utters thoughtfully, stepping closer with distinct bootfalls, her voice conveyed over the rebreather's emitter at a reasonable volume. <"Hello?.. Anyone there? Or.. anything?"> Aryn side steps a speeder after clipping her hip on it and mumble-grumbling about it. <"..ow!..">
[Elrych Cometburn]
"I really don't want to piss off your grandma. Bad look for me." Said the Corellian, looking around with hawkish and icy blue eyes. Elrych turns his head in the direction Kasia indicates, taking a deep breath through his nose. As he lets it out slowly, he reaches out with the force searching for a mind, anything... emotions, surface thoughts... whatever. It could just be an animal but...
He's starteled out of the trance, convinently at the same time Aryn clonks into the speeder. Yet it wasn't because of that... it was because of the raging emotions that were pouring out of the young man hiding.
"Yes... there's someone here and they're... volitile... careful." He clears his throat. "Who goes there?" He asks.
[Rune]
Rune focuses all of his might, the emotional battle on par with some of the most fierce struggles he's had, and attempts to calm the shaking of his body, to solidify his determination. After a few deep breaths taken and released, the wiggling of the spear ceases and bright eyes close to reopen with a new light. He's lived on this planet for ever, conquered it, survived the wilds, and lived of his own mettle. Who is he to be afraid of these people, they're nothing more than the terrors that assail him nearly every day. Still it pays to be cautious and, after a final nod of perseverance, he lowers closer to the dirt, creeping forward like a shadow in the night.... a shadow in the night that clips part of the rusted out speeder, it itself already being disturbed by another force from a different side. The worn metal gives away with a wail and a crash, the door nearly falling on poor Rune as he moved 'stealthily' along.
Looking back on the moment it would be hard to say what caused him to jump more... Aryn coming around the side of the speeder, her voice obscured by the rebreather and the creak of the metal, the worn out machinery collapsing bit by bit as his hiding space is reduced to dust, or his own attempt at maneuvering safely past them or into a place of more advantage. Whichever way it happened now, behind a rising cloud of dust and debris, stands a savage looking man with a long dirty beard, wild hair and eyes, and wrapped clothing and skins around his form. In his hands are clutched a spear, the weapon itself lifted more in defense than in attack, the man shifting it back and forth at the other figures in the dim light while those crazy eyes snap to and fro.
[Vhe Tenara]
Aryn's ow draws her attention from her search, "Are you okay?" She begins to ask but from the corner of her eye she notes a figure and the sudden crash of part of the speeder as it hits the ground and wobbles creaking. Vhe's eyes focus upon him before her brows furrow and she slowly lowers the saber to her side. It leeches away some of the light but the flash of his eyes in a nervous dance back and forth causes Vhe to lift her other hand palm out.
"We do not mean you harm...Vhe." she motions slowly to herself and then to Aryn. "Aryn..." she motions to Kasia. "Kasia..and Elrych." Once the introductions are done she tries to keep her voice neutral but there is a creaking groan from further down the mine shaft as more dust and shards of rock fall from the ceiling.
[Kasia Ashkuri]
The creaking and groaning are more than a little nerve-wracking for someone who doesn't spend a lot of time in caves. In her experience (which is mostly watching holofilms) those sorts of sounds are bad to hear while in caves. "Are we-- should we, you know, relocate?" she asks with an upward gesture toward the ceiling of the cave. The gesture lowers enough to meet her other hand somewhere in the middle between raised and lowered so she can make a 'see, no weapons' gesture at Rune. "Can you speak? Do you understand us?" She says it in that slow and deliberate way that's both an attempt to calm, and also might seem slightly patronizing for someone who doesn't speak the language. Like saying words slower makes it easier to understand.
[Aryn Cole]
Aryn's soul left her body when bits of the speeder made louder noises. When she managed to calm, there was a native face looking back at them with a spear and looking scary. Aryn stepped back and raised her weapon high, turning her attention briefly to the cave's state. Elrych's warning that this person was volatile did not help Aryn find a calm, so she did what any sensible person might. She hid behind Kasia and watched from the safety of her wake, adjusting only when Vhe said her name in some ritual of introductions.
[Elrych Cometburn]
Elrych narrows his brows, not in anger or suspicion, but in curiosity. The rumbling of the collapsing structure seems to become background to him as soemthing in the Force draws his attention. When Vhe introduces him, the Corellian laughs. "Vhe... this is it... he's who your grandmother wanted you to find. I sense the Force is with him. Untrained but the innate raw power is there."
The rumbling comes to the forefront of his mind then, looking towards the rocks falling. "I think Kasia is right... we should probably get out of here." He looks towards Rune, "Say Pal, you want to eat nurf burgers and listen to some Jizz? Beats the pants outa hunting game out here."
[Rune]
Sounds, sounds, words... they're speaking at him... to him, around him? The syllables, the rhyme and rhythm, it stirs memories deep inside... flashes of people, real people, of strangers in dreams giving more sounds, sounds at him... words. The one with the cyan tube sends sounds at him, words they must be... but what? He tries to recall, tries to remember... bit by bit as he watches the people sounds start to form in his throat, sounds... words? Rune's shakes slow a bit, the fear and shock turning more into curiosity and apprehension. It's not words that come from his lips but strange barking, a whine, and a fumbling of tones. Sharp hazel eyes stare at the group from behind shaggy matted hair, the spear held a little more loose but still very much at the ready.
The close figure retreats to the others and a perceived relief washes over Rune's features, the spear lowering a hair. However, as she goes, the blaster catches the light just so and more memories of the pain endured at the hands of things like that flood into his psyche. More sounds, words? escape him, his lips and tongue working in an attempt to form something that hangs on the edge of his mind. More guttural tones come from the man, aggressive sharp growls and whines sent in the four's direction. Something has clearly agitated the man but what?
Rune stands his ground, though the rumbles of the tunnel and the slide of rock is louder, these are things his is familiar with. He's dealt with stone, with sand, with dirt... people are something wholly new, foreign and, though not attacking at the moment, worrisome. The scavenger doesn't know how individuals react. That and they're between him and the way out. The thing the woman carries has hurt before and he's not all too sure about the light wands those other two are carrying.
[Vhe Tenara]
Glancing to Kasia she agrees with their need to move as the cavern shakes again, feeling the shudder beneath her feet now. She takes a step back and as Elrych confirms she is quick to study Rune for herself but whether she can feel the force or not has yet to be seen. "Come.." she turns her body, not blocking him so much as inviting as she motions him with her free hand to come. She takes a step towards the exit as if to indicate he should follow.
There is a creaking crack. And overhead a chucnk of the ceiling starts to give way and as dust fills the air the first pieces slam into the ground around them with the promise of more to drop right on all their heads.
"Watch out!" Vhe cries, thrusting that free hand up in the air in order to try to slow the descent of the ceiling overhead.
[Kasia Ashkuri]
Kasia mirrors Vhe's move and turns to allow Rune to get past them should he so desire. "It's okay, we're not here to hurt you," she assures him. Whatever more might've been said is intrrupted by the cry to watch out, both of her hands instinctively whipping up to try and help stop the cave from falling in atop their head. "Go," she urges Rune, head tilting to the way out. "Go!
[Aryn Cole]
Aryn slides her pistol back into its holster just as the ceiling began to give out. Not wanting to die was the perfect catalyst to drawing on the Force, and she marshalled her power from both hands and angled her influence to the rocks above. Those immediately above her stopped, but there was no way Aryn would be able to prevent the entire cave from coming down. <"Time.. to .. go, I think.."> She says, clearly strained. She begins to backtrack to the exit.
[Elrych Cometburn]
Elrych turns with Vhe, giving Rune space to move out between the group and not block him from the Exit. He's got that smirk on his face... which turns into a frown as Vhe shouts her warning. Hands go up automatically, the cracking of rock and stone warning enough nevermind his trained precognition. He reaches out with the force, halting several large chunks as they start to fall. "Yup... definatly time to go." He Echo's Aryn's sentiments.
[Rune]
The two exchange noises and the cyan tube figure turns and motions at him, taking a few steps back toward the entrance. A confused expression slides across his grubby features and the spear lowers a smidge more. Bright hazel eyes regard the other three and he had made up his mind to follow at a distance when Chicken Little came calling. Instantly, as he had many times against leaping beasts, Rune's hand is flung up in the air to send out a wave of magic to arrest the shards of rock and prevent them from crushing him where he stands.... but he failed... he knows he failed, there was no connection to the boulder as they fell... but there they are, hanging in the air above him, stopped.
Wide eyes drop to the four nearby, his own posture nearly mimicked by the lot of them. A choked cry and gasping breath sounds from the ragged man and he stumbles in their direction, slipping by them and pausing for only the briefest of moments, regard each in wonder before he rushes toward the glaring light of the entrance.
[Vhe Tenara]
Heaving the rock to the side it shudders and rocks as it hits the ground. Vhe lets out a breath and nods to the others just as Rune sprints past them. Giving the cavern a look she waits to be sure the rest are unharmed before following after the native figure. "Wait!" She calls, perhaps thinking he might just make a mad dash for it. But her ship is in the distance and that alone might make him stop.
The saber is held up until the point she can see the natural light outside and only then does it lower. Vhe starts to slow, unsure of what they will find outside but more than thankful to be away from the crumbling interior. Catching her breath as she nears the entrance she calls out again. "Ysanna!" His name may not be known but she cries out the one word he might understand.
[Kasia Ashkuri]
The rock is tipped away from them, and Kasia seems more than happy to join Rune in fleeing the cave. She does so with a measured stride, looking back to make sure the others are there as well. Once outside she lets out a breath and puts her hands on her hips. If Rune is running, she's not going to go running after him, she'll let the others do that and will slow walk the way horror movie villains always do. She'll get there eventually.
[Aryn Cole]
When the others move, Aryn lowers her hands and books it after them. She doesn't stop running until she is outside, and by then, a cloud of dust emerges from the mouth of the cave, further evidence that things were falling and the concussion was forcing the air out. Winded, Aryn takes a few moments off to the side to find her center again, then she looks up to make sure everyone has made it or if anyone is hurt. She is the Doctor afterall!
[Elrych Cometburn]
Elrych only lets the rocks go once he and the others are out of their path, and back into the light of Ossus' twin suns. He breaths a little heavy but not too badly, stopping not far from where Kasia is catching her own breath but after Aryn makes her way out. Eyes squint in the sun and so he reaches into his robes and pulls out his trademark shades. He pops them on, pushing them up the bridge of his nose with a single finger. They're thicklt framed black, lenses dark, reflecting the bright starts and blue sky. He looks towards Vhe, who shouts towards the wild Force User. He holds up a finger towards Rune as if to say something... but then slowly puts it down. "Yeah I got nothing."
[Rune]
Rune had run to a safe distance from the cave entrance and slowed. There were a multitude of reasons his interest was peaked and he wished to discover more, the greatest being the magic they all share between them. He had been a respectable distance away, where he felt safe from these strangers, when the first word he understood in years rang loud in the air. More blinks and a dropping of the man's jaw is what greets the word at first, a hesitant palm with fingers spread wide that presses to his chest is the second. His head dips and he grunts at Vhe, his hand tapping at his chest repeatedly.
The savage man looked at each of them while his hand mashed against his chest, feelings and thoughts swelling up to overwhelm his typically one track mind. For the first time in ten years Rune was smiling with absolute joy, the tears that poured from his eyes leaving clean streaks down his cheeks before being absorbed by his beard. He slowly lowered to his knees over come with emotion. They had found him... his tribe had found him... after all this time, all the hardships, the agony, after everything, he had finally been found.....
