Unwinding (Aaron)

[James Prent]

James slowly opened her eyes, and pretended to glare at the man sitting next to her on the transport. He elbowed her again. "You have been meditating for the whole trip, James. You have to see Yavin IV from space."

She adjusted her robes around her in the seat, and frowned. "Space flight makes me feel ill." But she did as instructed, and looked out one of the small portholes in the supply transport they were traveling in. The Jedi Knight whistled. "Wow - it looks like a frellin' jewel." James grinned, and looked back at Aaron, who returned the smile. "Y'know, I'm sorta excited about this. Circumstances excluded. I don't really know the Jedi masters who live on the planet - do you know them? Master Evanar and Master Mystt."

James sat back in her seat, and buckled up in preparation for entry into the atmosphere, and landing.

[Aaron Belargic]

“Only by reputation,” Aaron replied, shaking his head as he strapped himself in to his seat. For all he was wary of space flight, he could curb the almost childish curiosity and excitement that seeing planets from space inspired in him. Even when buckled in, he strained to see out of the window. While Coruscant looked almost post-apocalyptic from above, all grey with pockets of hot light here and there, Yavin looked simply sublime.

The ship began to tremble as it entered the planets atmosphere, and Aaron unconsciously began to grip at the armrests on his chair – his knuckles going pale. Not realizing this, he maintained a brave face. “Here we go…”

[James Prent]

James felt the ship begin to shake as it descended through the atmosphere, and she grabbed at the armrests. "Woah. Still not used to that yet. Feels like th' ship's gonna tear apar-"

She caught Aaron's eye, and swallowed the rest of her sentance. Relaxing her hold on the seat, she put her smaller hand over his white-knuckled one. "Almost there." She grinned, troubles forgotten in the excitement of space travel. Aaron smiled, a little tight-lipped, and his hand started to relax underneath hers.

Turning to look out the window, for a moment there was a split between space and sky, and then they were inside the planet's protective sphere and arcing across the sky towards their destination. The turbulence settled down to just the occasional jolt from the wind currents of Yavin IV. James pressed against the window again, eager to get her first glimpse of this new world. "I - I've never seen so many trees! There are no buildings!"

She turned back to Aaron, "Where do the people stay? I mean, I know the planet isn't as populated as Coruscant but - there are no cities at all?"

Aaron nodded, "The only beings on Yavin IV are animals, or the Jedi at the complex we're going to be staying at."

James' mouth made an o. "I didn't realize... Krasst, that's empty." She looked out the window, trying to take all of the landscape in as the transport made a slow circle and settled down on a landing pad.

[AmazonBabe]

AB had arrived at the pad before Morgan. He said he'd be along, but had to finish some things first. However, she didn't want to have the new arrivals waiting long after their landing.

She waited patiently at the edge of the landing pad as the ship smoothly touched down on the slab of concrete. Like a large beast exhaling, the ship let out a spout of steam from it's vents as the shocks attached to the landing gear took the brunt of the weight and settled.

A few moments passed as the pilot waited for his passengers to gather their gear before opening the ramp. With more steam spouting as the gyros worked, the ramp lowered itself with the occassional creak, finally touching the landing pad.

The pilot emerged first, standing at the top of the ramp and giving AB a informal salute, before standing aside to let his passengers disembark. Once they had passed him, he disappeared back into the hold to start unloading supplies.

AB took a step forward and smiled at the two younger Jedi as they decsended the ramp. "Knight Prent, Padwan Belargic... welcome to Yavin IV."

[Aaron Belargic]

“Master Mystt.” With his hands folded together (as if in prayer) and pressed into his chest, Aaron bowed. As he stood straight once more, he smiled. It was as though from the very moment he had stepped off the ship, he had felt infinitely calmer. Not just because he was glad to be on solid ground, but because Yavin had a serenity about it that could no doubt be attributed to the fact that it was all but uninhabited. There were many things that could be found on Coruscant that Yavin did not have, but the forest planet had at least one up on the hub world – real silence.

“Thank you for allowing us to spend some time here,” Aaron continued, as he was handed various bags by the pilot, slinging one over each shoulder.

[James Prent]

James followed Aaron down the gangplank, and tried not to stare. She'd been in the gardens at GJO, but there was always a comforting backdrop of skyscrapers, speeders, and garbage scows to break up the view. "Master Mystt..." she mimicked Aaron's bow out of a sudden loss of what else to do, and fumbled with her bags when they were handed to her.

She heard... nothing except for an alarming amount of birdcalls and insect chatter. Maybe coming here was a bad idea. James dropped a bag as she continued to follow Aaron to where the flame haired Jedi master waited, and had to stop to pick it up.

A zipper had failed, and to her charign a pack of stims was sitting on the dirt along with a few unmentionables. The Jedi knight stuffed the items back into the bag and picked it up carefully so nothing more would make an appearance. With a few steps she had caught up to Aaron and Master Mystt, and she smiled at their host. "Yes, thank you for agreein' t' have us here."

Uncomfortable, she laughed stiffly, "I wasn't expectin' ... this..." James gestured weakly at the jungle all around them.

[AmazonBabe]

AB smiled in Aaron's direction as he greeted her. It appeared and felt as though Aaron was beginning to adapt himself to the jungle planet, gracefully making his way down the plank and onto the soft mossy ground. She surmized that he was much like his twin; naturally in tune with nature due to their ancestry.

James was a stark contrast to Aaron. Coming down the ramp, she fumpled with a bag, spilling a few items from it. She quickly bent down and stuffed the itmes in the bag, not careing for neatness, and hurried the rest of the way down the plank to stand beside Aaron.

AB smiled at the younger woman in an attempt to calm and sooth her misgivings and nervousness. "You'll find that yavin has something to offer everyone. Sometimes we all need a little bit of quiet, away from the hustle and bustle of large cities." She looked around her. "There are no loud noises here to distract you from your studies... or even a good book."

She was a tall woman, seemingly towering over James. Aaron on the other hand was about eye level with her. She gestured with a hand for them to follow.

"Come, let me show you to your rooms, and then I can show you the amentities we have to offer here." She added as she walked towards the large stone temple. "They aren't much, but they serve their purpose in keeping us comfortable."

[Aaron Belargic]

It seemed slightly odd to Aaron, that one of the Jedi Masters themselves should come and act as a tour guide for them. On the one hand, he had thought that they would have had duties to tend to, but on the other he felt humbled and quite honoured that Master Mystt had decided to personally see to their welcoming.

Looking on the temple, Aaron smiled. “I much prefer this to Coruscant. It reminds me of home.” The Jedi Master lead them up the stone steps and beneath a small arch. From time to time, as they walked they would pass other Jedi, though they were few and far between. Most were lost in meditation, solitary and silent. Everything on the planet seemed very minimalist, and their quarters were no different.

Much like the temple itself, they had been constructed entirely from natural resources – stone, cane, vines and so on. The natural climate of Yavin kept the rooms warm, while a window in one wall filled the room with light and allowed a cool breeze to drift through. The floor was covered in tatami mats (woven straw), lain on which was a pair of chaff-filled futons. It was very rustic and traditional. Aaron was thrilled.

“What a change!”

[James Prent]

James felt dwarfed in more ways than one by the red haired Jedi Master, and followed meekly behind Aaron as they were shown to their quarters. It was so quiet it was unnerving her, and she knew that Yavin IV was going to take more getting used to than she'd thought. As they came around a corner of the path, she caught her first good look of the ancient Massassai temple that the Jedi had renovated for their own uses.

She gaped. There were buildings much larger on Coruscant, of course, and even some of roughly the same shape, but... this was much more impressive. It was alien in design, and the way it simply rose above the tree canopy towards the sky took her breath away.

Soon they were ushered inside, and she was setting her bags on a futon that smelled a little musty. James wrinkled her nose in distaste, but knew she had to make the best of it.

"What a change!" She could hear her companion in the room beside hers, so she turned away from her window to see how he was getting on.

She poked her head in his doorway and smiled, "You can say that again. I didn't think that it would be so... so different here."

[AmazonBabe]

AB's smile broadened, echoing Aaron's exclaimation with a short phrase. "It certainly is different from a city planet such as Corucsant." James piped in with her own comment at the doorway.

She had placed them in rooms adjacent to each other. Having received the message from the Council back on Coruscant, she knew the reasoning for the pair's coming. But she did not bring it up, nor pry.

In the corner of each room, on a small round stand made of a green wood, stood a small vibrantly colored and sweet smelling plant. It would now and again move slender vines like arms to catch passing insects and injest them quietly and unobtrusively. AB commented on them. "The insect plants are here to brighten the room as well as keep the insect population down within the rooms. We had a bit of an infestation when we first moved in here several months ago, but it has since been dealt with."

It seemed both Jedi would fit in nicely here. Aaron would probably adapt much more quickly than James, but James had the companionship of Aaron and the other Jedi at the temple to help her along.

"I do hope you find your stay here relaxing and enjoyable." She looked at both, still smiling. "Now, I'm going to be a gracious host and give you a choice: You may stay in your rooms for a spell and freshen up, perhaps catch some sleep after your voyage, or maybe explore a little on your own, or you may come with me and I will show you the rest of the grounds."

[James Prent]

James looked at Aaron, and then back to Master Mystt. "Ah, we don't want to keep you from your duties... I think we can explore on our own for a bit. Thank you for your kind welcome, Master Mystt."

[Aaron Belargic]

“Yes, thank you for your time,” Aaron bowed once more as they bid the Jedi Master farewell. Once Rie had gone out of earshot, Aaron turned expectantly to James. She had seemed a little uncomfortable, perhaps not having realized exactly what she was getting herself into.

“Well… what do you think?”

[James Prent]

She flopped down onto his futon, and coughed at the sudden cloud of chaff dust that flew into the sunlight. Waving her hand about ineffectively, she looked at him with pleading eyes. "It's so... rustic!"

He grinned, "Fantastic, isn't it."

James shook her head. "I can't believe there's no ambient noise here! My ears are ringing from the silence. It's like... like being let loose in the holographic zoo in Old Imperial Center after hours!" She quickly amended, "Not that I've ever been in there after hours. I just don't know how I'm going to settle my... sister issues when I'm uncomfortable."

She sighed, and lay back gingerly on the futon, resting her head on one of his bags. "I guess I didn't know it was going to be so frellin' relaxing here. I'll have to just get used to it."

[Aaron Belargic]

“It’ll just take a little time to adjust,” Aaron tried to assure her. “I know that when I first came to Coruscant I didn’t think I’d ever be able to get used to it, but…” For a moment Aaron paused, a smile growing on his lips as he thought of the possibility of saying that he’d come to love Coruscant – that was pushing it a little too far.

“Anyway,” he waved one hand in dismissal. “How about we go have a wander around? Just to see a little of the area. If you’re feeling up to it, that is.”

[James Prent]

She popped up from the futon, and grinned. "Yeah, let's get going. I want to see outside again." James grabbed his hand, and pulled him from the room. Once in the hall, she looked both ways, and then dropped his hand and sighed.

"Which way? I can't remember which way we came in."

Aaron grinned, and led her down the hall to the right. "It's a good thing the Council let me come. Can't have you wandering around lost all the time." She pushed him playfully, and they both laughed.

Once out in the open, James made herself stand in the open, and look up at the blue sky. There were a few small clouds, but other than that, the sky was empty. No, there's a bird. She smiled, face to the sky, and said, "Y'know, I've never seen a sky with no speeders in it before. Even off Coruscant, there's always been something."

[Aaron Belargic]

A hint of sadness showed in Aaron’s eyes. James had spent her life tucked away between the skyscrapers of Coruscant, never having seen the wonders the galaxy had to offer. “Some day, you have to come with me to Hallaera,” he said, resolved that he would be the one to show her. “Or anywhere for that matter! There’s adventures to be had.”

His last words were spoken more than a little tongue in cheek, and he smiled broadly as they ambled along a narrow path through the greenery. A sudden thought popped into his head. “Did I ever tell you about my brother William?”

[James Prent]

She was careful not to touch any trees or plants along the side of the path, and at his question, she looked at him. "You had another brother? No, you never told me about him."

James leaned towards him to avoid brushing an overhanging branch, and wiped at her damp forehead as she straightened. It was certainly more humid here on the moon than she'd ever experienced on Coruscant. She looked at Aaron out of the corner of her eye, expecting some memory of his brother to be shared. After all, she knew about the Outbound Project that Dasquian and Aaron had been a part of, and that they had been trapped in cryo-sleep for hundreds of years.

Or a hundred. Actually, she had no idea how long it had been. "Was he a Jedi also?"

[Aaron Belargic]

“Far from it,” he laughed, brushing aside a vine that dangled in their way. “Will is a pirate. I’m not much of a pilot personally,” Aaron said with a slight frown at his gross understatement, “but he has a fantastic ship and crew, if you ever would like to spend a little time travelling, seeing the stars.”

Then, as if realising a mistake and attempting to backtrack, Aaron spoke hurriedly. “Not that we should go looking for trouble or adventures, of course.” Being that James was technically his superior now, the Padawan felt somewhat guilty at what he’d said. The swashbuckling lifestyle his brother lead certainly wasn’t supposed to hold any appeal for students of the Jedi art, yet guiltily Aaron found himself drawn to the vagrant way of life.

Distracted by his thoughts and not paying attention to where he was going, Aaron reached to move aside another branch – only to lay hands on something scaly. He looked up and saw his fingertips a hairs breadth away from the long, lazy body of a young Burning Snake – luckily asleep, dozing in the sun.

[James Prent]

James frowned. "Wait, your brother is still alive?" She took a step, and then stopped and turned around, noticing that he'd halted just behind her. "I'm sorry, I'm not tryin' to be rude -"

She blinked. "Tell me that's not what I think it is." James took a step backwards, away from Aaron and the crawly thing.

[Aaron Belargic]

Aaron eyed the serpent incredulously. “I think…” he said quietly, “It’s asleep.”

Reaching out with the Force, he confirmed his suspicions. The snake seemed unaware of their presence. Aaron’s buoyancy returned.

“It’s harmless!” he proclaimed, confidently. James looked sceptically at Aaron, who flashed a big smile.

“Master Mystt would have warned us if there was something worth avoiding out here.”

[James Prent]

She raised an eyebrow, "Maybe Master Mystt is too busy to warn us about everything there is out here." She flashed him a grin, "But, I did say we wanted to explore on our own, so encountering dangerous wildlife must be part of it."

James refused to walk closer to the snake, so Aaron had to catch up to her before they continued their walk. She turned a circle in the path, arms straight out from her shoulders. "It's so weird here that I haven't even thought about ... that woman. Until now." She sighed as they trudged along the path. "Aaron - if she's my sister, and I believe Master D'an that she is, doesn't it stand to reason that I could have the same tendencies towards the dark side? What if I'm not strong enough to resist?"

[Aaron Belargic]

“Don’t doubt yourself, James,” Aaron shook his head. Thoughts of Master Tarkin and her sister again entered his mind. If she and James had been strong enough to keep on the right path to Knighthood, then surely they would never fall from the Light.

“Just because you’re related, it doesn’t mean you’re anything alike,” he added, swiping with some frustration at a thick tangle of vine in his way.

[James Prent]

James shrugged, using the Force to help lift the vines out of Aaron's way. "I dunno... I mean, I know you're right, but it's just ... just a mind trip." She gestured about her head to demonstrate.

They walked for a few minutes in companionable silence. James still trying to avoid touching the wild plants at all costs. It was too weird to be on a planet that was completely overgrown with plant life. Well, except for the temples and such.

"Aaron - who was it who built the temples and buildings here on Yavin? They certainly pre-date the Jedi using this place for a training area."

[Morgan Evanar]

An insectoid hissed to the left of the pair. James and Aaron froze. Through the foliage they could make out a very large bipedal. The hiss shifted. A slight swish, and the hiss stopped. Morgan emerged, wiping down a long, thin vibrosword with a wide leaf. He seemed to flow around the jungle. The weapon radiated age and lethality.

"Kinrath." The tall man stated. James and Aaron looked worried. Morgan dropped the leaf, gooey with insect internals, and sheathed the sword.

"I appologize for the awkward introduction. I'm Morgan Evanar." He smiled gently, but his eyes looked concerned.

[Aaron Belargic]

Aaron’s eyes moved from the sheathed sword up – and up – to Morgan’s face. “Master Evanar,” he bowed stiffly (surprised at the elder Jedi’s appearance) then straightened, catching a glimpse of what appeared to be unease in the Jedi Masters eyes. “Is… everything… alright?” he asked, his eyes again shifting to vibrosword Morgan carried.

[James Prent]

James nearly jumped out of her skin, Jedi calm evaporating as yet another surprise leapt out of the jungle at her. She grabbed Aaron's elbow with her hand as the man came out onto the path, her fingers probably digging in uncomfortably. When he introduced himself as the other Jedi Master, she managed to relax. A little.

"Kinrath?" Her query was faint. Master Evanar stood easily two feet taller than she.

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan scratched his chin.

"'mm not sure yet. There was mention in the survey reports, one of the notes suspected a colony. There was an earthquake a few days ago, and it's possible they're displaced." James still looked confused.

"Kinrath are large, burrowing insectoids. Judging from the stink, they communicate mostly with smell. They can be dangerous if you're unarmed. This one was alone, and I'd wager looking for a new hive ground. Are either of you armed?"

[James Prent]

James looked around as the Jedi Master spoke, and lifted her arm to show the lightsaber that was clipped to her belt. "Armed, yes; expecting t' need to use it, not especially."

She could smell what he was talking about now, and wrinkled her nose. "Shouldn't be hard t' find if they all stink like that. Or, to avoid..?"

[Aaron Belargic]

Aaron felt reassured as he patted the saber hilt that hung at his hip. “If nothing else, then shouldn’t we be able to sense them?” he asked, oblivious to the slight rustling in the mass of green vines and leaves behind him.

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan smiled.

"I suppose so. But I'd still be careful. And they don't stink like that until the die. The pheremone trails they leave are much more subtle. I'm going to let everyone else know that we may have a bunch of the critters roaming 'round..." In a blink, Aaron was yanked away from the vines and behind Morgan. A large stinger impacted the space he had occupied moments ago. James scrambled backwards, and grabbed her lightsaber.

The quadraped insectiod reared up, taking aim for the Jedi Master. He sidestepped easily, grabbed the appendage, and pulled the kinrath off it's feet.

[James Prent]

Her lightsaber was in her hand and ignited by the time she'd recovered from her surprise, and James watched the Jedi Master manhandle the insectoid creature that had tried to attack Aaron. As he pulled it off it's legs, the creature fell backwards and James moved in and quickly cut the thing in two.

The smell that instantly permeated the area made her nose wrinkle in disgust. "You said they have a colony? These aren't native to Yavin IV, are they?"

[Aaron Belargic]

“If they aren’t native, then how could they have come to be here?” Aaron frowned. The creatures couldn’t have stowed away on a ship, so if they weren’t indigenous to Yavin, someone must have brought them to the planet…