Log:Starlight Vanguard: Xyndarran Campfire

Aria, Saito, and Juria sit around a campfire on Xyndarra

OOC Date: April 5, 2023
Location: Xyndarra
Participants: Aria Voss, Saito, Juria

It was almost nightfall in the area the /Haulin' Assets/ and its fighter escort were touching down on the rocky clearing. The smell of the jungle was thick, and the sounds were getting louder, but it was pleasant outside -- more pleasant, at least, than sitting cooped up in the belly of some durasteel monstrosity listening to the air handlers run.

Of course, those noises were coming from somewhere.

Everyone was off doing whatever it was they were doing, and Aria was kind of the odd ball out, in this situation. Organization she could do. Negotiations she could do. Planning. Orchestrating. She's even been known to party so hard she shut down a club or two, in her younger years (those being a year or two ago, according to the tabloids). But, none of those skills helped her, in this moment. The plan had been established: Everyone gets a good night of rest, and we start fresh in the morning.

She felt ridiculous in this suit. It was made for someone significantly more qualified than she was. She /moved/ visibly awkwardly in it, like some sort of imposter. She even had a blaster pistol strapped to her leg that she had no idea how to use -- but it was there, because in a pinch, either causing enough noise to scare something off or being able to shoot it squarely in the face was better than not being able to do anything at all, whether that was one of the other crew that got left behind or part of the jungle's wildlife.

So, if this was going to be their camp for the night, she had the idea to make it into a... camp. She'd gone around the edge of the clearing, not straying far, collecting fallen limbs and other debris. She'd made a little pile of it on the rocks, and it wasn't until then that she sighed, looking up at the ship. Surely Karlie had something in her toolkit that could start a fire easily. Or.. of course.. there was..

"Hey, Figly? Can I borrow you for a second?"

The little Astromech stands besides the Bellbulab, standing very still. As if.. Guarding the vecel? When the Zeltron approaches the droid, he replies in a long strings of beeps, boops and wirls. Thats when the fighter's canope opens and Saito comes out. "Anything wrong?" he asks, blinking sleep and sand away from his eyes, pausing to stiffle a yawn. The Astromech grumbles something that might be a curse.

It is very likely the only person who could be more out of place in a forest is Juria Nexum. On the one hand, she's not even wearing a flightsuit. She's got on some hodgepodge of smuggler clothes with a hood and second skin body glove... while one is no more suited for survival in the forest, her's is definitely LESS so. So she's not straying very far from the ship. Hood down from her blonde ponytail.

She, like Aria, is better suited for negotiations. A pilot she might be, but a survivalist? Eh... She better keep trusting the Force on that one. She's never been much of a partier either. There wasn't a whole lot of time for it on freighters when she was growing up, the Resistance Camps when she was in her early twenties, and aboard her wives ship when time inexpliccably slipped forward by a decade and a half without her even realizing it.

Now she's back in camps.

Sitting on the ground with her legs folded up beneath her, palms down on her thighs, and her eyes closed. An aura of radiance and serenity surrounding her AND the small smile on her face. It could always be worse!

"/I/ didn't wake him up, /you/ did," Aria petulantly argues with the overpriced piece of drek. "/Yes/, it has to be now. I tried asking nicely, but now you can get your bucket of rusted motivators over here and start this fire before I use you for target practice. He's not an infant. You can leave him for more than two minutes at a time."

Taking a deep breath, she blows it out her nose and shakes her head at Saito, pushing a smile up onto her lips. "No," she says, her voice considerably softer. "Just.. borrowing Figly for a minute. /Less/ than a minute." Her eyes shift pointedly to Figly and then back again. "You should go back to sleep. I'm sorry I woke you."

She kneels by the wood she'd gathered, apparently fully expecting Figly to do as she told him to, and lets her eyes drift over to Juria. There's a quiet sort of longing in the Zeltron's features -- there was no peace or anything close to it that radiated from her. Quite the contrary. She seemed put on edge by all of the little croaks and cracks, the rustles and the whispers of leaves moving together. She wasn't /scared/ . Not that she'd admit. It just... wasn't exactly New Vertica, either.

The Astromech turns his dome to Saito for a moment. The Jedi still blinks, only now fully waking up. "No, I can't go back, There is something that I have to do. Excuse me, I'll be right back." he slowly walks towards Juria. He pauses when he is close to her, not wanting to disturb her peace of mind. Then he slowly approaches, starting to murmur something to the older woman. Meanwhile, noticing that Saito is gone, Figly produces a string of beeps to Aria. He turns and rolls towards the nearby pile of wood. A torch extends from the droid's manipulator arm and he easilly starts their campfire.

It hasn't been long enough since they'd settled, but Juria never actually sleeps. Not in the sense of laying down and drifting off like a normal person would, anyways. She meditates. Like now, with her eyes closed, sitting comfortably on the ground surrounded by the living Force. It's so much easier in the wild, even if she has no idea what any of the bugs or trees or plants are called.. how dangerous they might be by look alone.

There's a serenity to it because everything is alive.

Her blue eyes slide open when Saito gets near and turn to look up at him. That gentle, almost inviting smile on her face. One hand pats the ground beside her, she wasn't sitting that terribly far from where Aria was working to start a fire. "Oh?" Tilting her head just enough to look at the red Zeltron for a moment, she looks back up to Saito and nods. "Alright, so long as you're careful."

Who would she be to tell anyone how to live their life? She is one of the few, very few, who almost never return to the temples. There's likely rumors about her that she's even lost her connection to the Force before. Spoken as cautionary tales amongst young Padawan after their Master catches them being brats... as all children are like to do.

"I don't suppose there's any more of those corndogs? Those were awful tasty."

/Something I have to do./ Well, that was ominous. Aria's gaze follows him for a moment, but when it becomes obvious that he wants some privacy with Juria, she returns her attention to Figly, watching him start the fire and then beep petulantly at her -- you know those beeps, even if you don't understand the specific words.

"Thank you," Aria says, sitting back on her heels and leaning forward to move some of the wood around, making sure all of it lights. "You know, I'm beginning to think you're this way just because you want to get a rise out of me." Her eyes lift, her harshness faded to something kinder and more skeptical, now that she has the fire she wanted. "And I /thought/ the plan was that we were going to be friends. After all, I'm just about the only one around that can actually understand you without a screen."

The fire grows steadily. That was her 'living Force.' Warmth. Light. Security. Even if it was a false sense of security, the glow that chased away the shadows at least made her feel like it was less likely something was going to run out of the jungle and eat her.

But /despite/ the fact that she was absolutely minding her own business and not at all eavesdropping or trying to figure out what /had to be done/ that Saito couldn't go back to sleep for, she laughs at the request for corndogs.

"I'm afraid that's a Nar Shaddaa delicacy," the woman says, slipping her gloves off so she can feel the heat better on her palms. "Even if we tried to recreate it out here, it would just be disappointing. I can offer you rations on a stick, though. Or, there's brandy."

Saito moves to sit beside Juria. "Thank you," there is clear appreciation in his eyes. He probably expected a different reaction. "Thank you for understanding, master.. I.. Thought you owuld." he is one of the padawans who is rarely at the temple, splitting his atention between his training as a Jedi and his work with the rebelion. He offers a warm smile to Juria. "I alsso would like to thank you for your advice, last time.. It really made me see things in a different way." he still talks in a voice that is half a murmur. Meanwhile, the Astromech releases another string of beeps at Aria several times. The mention of the word brandy causes Saito to raise his head. "Well, I have some canned rations in my ship, too, if you two want," he offers.

"Dang." No corndogs. It very well may be there's even a crack in her usual smile. It's temporary, but clearly she's developed a taste for them! And honestly, who wouldn't? What kind of monster doesn't love cornbread covered meat on a stick? The Sith, that's who. Clearly that's the trappings of the Dark Side.

When suddenly there's light and warmth radiating outward from the growing fire, the small Corellian nods and pushes up to crawl a little closer. Once she's settled, legs beneath her, she holds her hands out. Bare now that she's pulled off her gloves and let them dangle over her thigh. "Oh, well that's what we're suppose to do. I'm always here if you need guidance or have questions. I like teaching."

She furrows her brow thoughtfully. Considering the woods around her, the fire, the way the light reflects off the trio of ships in the clearing only a few hundred yards from them. Every chirp and squeel. Every rustle of every bush.

She perks up and grins, having forgotten what she was going to say. Certainly it wasn't important if she doesn't remember though! "Rations on a stick? Is that like the meals ready to eat they gave us back in the resistance? There was one... uh..." She snaps her fingers a few times, glancing down and to one side, "Oh.. stringy noodles in brown water with chunks of grey stuff.. If you put enough spice in it, it didn't make you vomit."

"I think it was from the FIRST rebellion, though. Do you know they use to eat sticks and grass soup?"

"Savages."

/Master?/ Well /that's/ interesting. No. No, Aria. It's not. Don't be a hypocrite. You lecture him about keeping his secrets to himself, and then you /intentionally/ sit and listen to their conversation. Stop. Mind your own business. Look. A fire. A pretty fire. A pretty, warm, crackling fire. And a /super/ moody robot.

The Zeltron laughs softly at the beeps and boops, shaking her head. "Hey, take it easy on him. He's done pretty well on his own. I'm glad you're there for him. Just.. work with me, yeah? I want what's best for him, too."

/I like teaching./ Stop. Stop. Stop listening. Not your business. Sing a song in your head, Aria. Of course, it didn't /help/ that they were getting /closer/ and still talking about their sekrit squirrel stuff. It also didn't help that she could fill a holonet with all of the questions she had that she hadn't asked out of respect.. or courtesy.. or /something/ .

Rations. Aria's gaze lifts back to Juria, watching her snap her fingers and ultimately laughing at the description of the food, despite the way her nose wrinkled in disgust. "No. Sorry. Nothing that appetizing. The stuff I found in there was more like... pate'. At first, I thought they had an animal onboard I didn't know about. I assume you can stick the can of it on a stick and warm it up, though. Maybe that would make it more.. palatable."

Violet eyes return to Saito, though, and she lifts a hand to stop him, shaking her head. "None for me, thank you. I'm fine. I really just wanted to get this started before it got dark."

A pause, then.

"How's building your lightsaber going, by the way?"

Well, if you can't beat them, join them.

Saito can't help but to chuckle at the Jedi Knight's antics. He moves closer to the fire, taking a second to remove the gloves that he had been wearing due to his stealth suit. "Hey, now you are making me regret not tasting a corndog," Saito grins, winking playfully to the Corellian. "I guess we'll never know what the packs and cans of ration do contain.. This'll be a mistery for the ages.. The canned food that I have aboard the gambling wind isn't too bad.. Tough its testure can put some people of.. The contents of the can look like a very weird gelatin." The small Astromech warbles something to Aria, before he slowly starts to roll towards the Belllab fighter. Saito allows the fire to warm his hand for a moment before he turns to Aria. "Well, it was almost finished, the last time.. Until I lost my concentration and all the parts exploded.. At least the crystal wasn't damaged.. I can gatter the other parts again.. It'll just take me some time." he says this in a calm tone, not seeming slightly bottered by it. "I had been planning on finishing it before this little trip of ours." he rolls his shoulders in a shrugh.

"I find..." Juria finds a long, thin stick to jub into the coals of the fire beneath the bigger pieces of wood. Tilting slightly from one side to the other to give the ambers a good stoking. She saw it on a holovid survival show with Brul Grear who went to felucia with his crew and shows people how to survive in an environment that will ACTUALLY EAT YOU... no seriously, there's plants there that are carnivorous and have acquired a taste for sentient meat.

"I'm so glad we're not on Felucia." She really is a squirrel.

What was she saying? Oh..

"I find that everything tastes pretty good when you're starving." Green eyes flick back and forth between them, gauging their age with a wiggle of her fingers. They fall back on the flames, "We were on... uh... D'Qar.. Yeah, D'Qar.. You know the planet someone moved to become Alderaan, thereby completely destroying the solar system by absolutely destroying the gravitational pull each planet i- sorry..." She waves her hand, flicking it in the air.

"We were on D'Qar. It was, I think a few months before the First Order invaded, but we'd gotten down to rationed, rations. I figured out which bugs taste good on 'grain substitute hardened squares' if you put 'red paste four'."

Lightsaber.. oh so she knows.

Juria peers over at Aria, then to Saito. "Do you have the things you need? I can't think of a better place to attempt the construction of a lightsaber than when surrounded by the living force." Motioning around with the glowing end of her stick.

Aria's lips quirk into a grin at Juria's mention of D'Qar and New Alderaan.

"You know, they're having a spring festival, soon. Can you ride? They're always looking for new marksmen to compete with. I'm sure you'd /love/ it." Her voice, of course, dripping with sarcasm. As uppity as she sometimes seemed, she didn't seem to have any love for the aristocracy and their... habits, either.

The words 'lost my concentration' and 'exploded' have Aria frowning and suddenly realizing that Figly might have an entirely different perspective on who Saito is when she wasn't around. "That's..."

But then there's the mention of it being put off, and the Zeltron seems to internalize that statement, nodding with a guilty flick of her gaze to the fire. "I'm sorry." Her voice is soft, sincerely apologetic. She didn't have enough years or experience to stop trying to carry the weight of the impact of all of her decisions on her own shoulders, yet -- the fact that Saito didn't have time to finish what he wanted, that at least three people died in front of her just a few hours ago (two of them murdered by her now ex-boyfriend, which was /not/ new), that they were all sitting in an uncomfortable jungle surrounded by wildlife...

All because she wanted to get her hands on a bigger ship. Thank the maker no one on her team had actually gotten hurt because of this trip. She'd probably be beside herself.

Juria's mention of building it here has Aria blinking, though, and looking back to Saito curiously.

Saito tilts his head to the Corellian. "What is in Fellucia?" he asks, curiosity getting the better of him, a small part of him dreading the answer. "So, you.. Ate all the bugs?" he asks, seeming incredulous yet amased at the same time. "Weren't you afraid that they could be poisonous?" he shakes his head. "I have everything that I need, yeah.. You are right, this place teems with the living force.. For mee fitting the parts together is ease.. I only had problems when it came to using the force too link each part.. Still, I'm not in any hurry." he crosses his legs and closes his eyes for a moment, simply feeling the life that surrounds them, the plants and the animals, letting the peace of the force come to him for a moment. He reopens his eyes. "I see what you mean," he says to Juria, nodding ot her. "It'll be here.. I'll build it here," he says with conviction, before his gaze goes to the Zeltron, gaze becoming soft. "Hey, youd on't have to apologise.. I wasn't going too endanger this mission just because I wanted to finish building my lightsaber." he offers her a warm, bright smile, reaching out to gently squeeze her hand, if allowed.

The particulars of what has drawn a raincloud over Aria's mood might be lost upon Juria, but it's fairly obvious from just casual observation that something definitely has... The stick pokes into the ambers, not really doing much at this point besides giving her stuff to do with her hands between periods of discourse. Which probably helps her focus... it might also cause her mind to over analyze details that matter only to someone who sees something round and wonders how to fit it into a square hole.

Which is pretty much Juria in a square shell.

The fire pops, a soft crackle as sap ignites or a bug gets too close.

Good segue.

She glances up, brow wrinkling, at Saito. "Oh.. well not all the bugs. I left some behind." She grins, lips curling up with the tip of her tongue visible between the gap between her top and bottom front teeth. She clearly knew what he was actually talking about. "You learn which ones are poisonous pretty quick. Twi'lek's... We had a lot of twi'leks back then, come to think of it.." Her head tilts, hair flopping, "You know? I don't think those ladies did much fighting.. hm.." She shakes her head, "Twi'lek! They can eat anything, but they grow up eating mushrooms out of caves. So they can pretty good at determining what's poisonous or not." Stabity stab..

Peering over at Aria. "You know. You don't really know me, so you can take or leave any advice I give you as it suits you, but I've seen a lot of things and I've felt a lot of feelings. So I... hmmm... What you feel? Like things you feel, not what YOU feel.. they're sometimes very poisonous. Like bugs-" She points her stick sideways at Saito, "-or twi'leks who hide in their rooms not fighting-" In the other. "-But you don't have to let them be. If what you're doing is right? If your cause is just? You can feel remorse, without letting it poison your actions."

She furrows her brow a little, "There is no emotion... there's peace..." A flicker of a grin, "That doesn't mean you are a robot because we're all sentient, thinking people. It means that you face fear, anger, pain... regret... and you do what you know is right anyways. It's when you loose harmony with yourself and let what you feel dictate what you do.. that's when you your emotions are no longer your ally, they're your enemy." Stab, the fire snaps and crackles.

"Don't eat strange bugs though."

"I hope you do," Aria says, giving Saito's hand a gentle squeeze in return, her violet eyes fixed on him in a moment of sincere encouragement.

But then her gaze is back on Juria, listening to the other woman's words as intently as any apprentice she might have known. Their relationship might have had a different path to walk, but it obviously didn't mean that Aria didn't value her wisdom. Young as she might be, she was smart enough to pay attention when someone she respected offered her advice.

"I'd gladly take any advice you have. But I think that's the hard part, for me -- trusting what's right. I'm so used to doing the /wrong/ thing just /because/ it's the wrong thing that this feels... different. More dangerous. And the fact that I have people willing to follow me, willing to /care/ about me..." Briefly, her eyes flicker to Saito, her thumb brushing against his knuckles. "It makes me even more worried about my choices. I don't know how I'll handle it, yet, if something goes wrong, here. I've never really failed at anything, before." There's a soft laugh. "You'd think that would make me /too/ confident."

She leans over, then, and gives Saito a soft kiss on the cheek, another squeeze of his fingers. "Probably, I'm just getting tired. Please, excuse me. I'm going to go see if I can get some sleep." And then she's standing, releasing the Jedi's hand, and making her way back to the ship.