Wanderlust

[Navaria Tarkin]

The skies of Dathomir had decided to be unkind today. Darkened from the heavy and dark cloud cover, rain began to fall in the Misty Valley where two Jedi were currently traveling. The rain wasn't so severe that they required shelter, but the thick robes soaked up the water easily to weigh the pair down. Boots sunk into the over saturated ground, making travel difficult, but not impossible. It would take longer to reach their goal, a cavernous network near the falls, but they would arrive before sunset. They may have to make camp before exploring but they had the clan's blessing to remain in their lands for as long as necessary to complete their investigation. There was just one condition - the Jedi needed to share their discoveries, if any, which they agreed to. Knowledge was a gift, and it was only fair that the people of this land had the opportunity to learn as well.

Navaria reached up and pushed the edge of her dampened hood up, angled so her eyes wouldn't be pelted by rain. "Looks to be another hour, hour and a half, to our destination," she called out to her companion.

She lowered her hand and gripped the straps of the pack, glad they had brought the tent after all. And glad for this outing. Navaria appreciated the peace that Ossus afforded the Jedi. It was well deserved and earned but to catalog books and oversee construction of the town was not the life that the young Jedi Master was accustomed to. Years of being on the run because of her lineage and Force abilities made settling down in one place difficult to accept. Necessities aside, Navaria had loved exploring new worlds and people, learning their language and customs, witnessed the beauty of the Force in the galaxy first hand with the friends she made. But in turn she lost them, either by choice or death, Navaria learned how difficult it were to make and maintain attachments. No one, and no one thing, existed of her previous life. It was all in the past, despite her wanderer leaning. She was fortunate that the one she loved shared her enthusiasm for traveling.

She also ground the young woman in distancing herself of thoughts of her twin sister, Miranda. That line of thought was always a slippery slope that ended with an ache that could never be fulfilled. Miranda and Navaria were on opposite sides of the Force and they would never have a meaningful relationship unless she denounced the Jedi and fell in line with the Empire. She was well aware that her sister's knights were still looking for her and ordered them to bring her back to Coruscant. Alive. She would not be turned and Navaria hoped that Miranda could be saved had disappeared. She felt that window of opportunity had long since passed.

"How are you doing, Daria?" she asked over the rain that had picked up.

[Daria Nytherciria]

“I'm wondering why we didn't travel with a speeder,” Daria answered, her tone dry – in contrast to the rest of her. Hair clung in wet straggling strands to the sides of her face, her hood doing little to keep the elements at bay. It was no wonder Dathomir resonated so strongly with the Force; the endless rains fed equally endless swathes of verdant, unchecked flora.

Though her bones were chilled, Daria took strength from the life that she felt around her. Ossus was not a barren world, but there was a purity of spirit on Dathomir that the Jedi Order's make-shift home did not have. Places like this were where the Jedi Knight had honed her skills, far from the reaches of civilisation – yet Daria was mindful of the dirt that they walked on.

Dathomir sat within the confines of what was still, in spite of the concordance, Imperial territory. Tread carefully, the Miralukan Knight cautioned herself, her senses pushed out into the landscape, searching for any sign that the two of them were not alone.

[Navaria Tarkin]

Navaria chuckled ruefully. There well planned out hike had become laborious due to the unforeseen weather. Nothing on the monitors had indicated that there was a rainstorm heading their way.

"And miss out on all of this?" she jest. The speeder would have cut down on time and given them reprieve from the rain, but then their presence could be identified easier. The last thing they wanted were Imperial entanglements. Both of them had come here peacefully to explore under the acceptance of the nearby witches. There was nothing dubious about them at all. Just a Jedi Knight and the Empress' sister enjoying a soggy trot through the jungles of Dathomir.

"Hmm ..." Navaria stood motionless near the edge of the jungle, gently pushing aside the large leafy plant that was obscuring her vision. They had finally arrived at the point in the valley where it fully opened up. Small pools of water had collected on the ground where smaller animals drank. By all appearances, the open land was safe. Calm. As it felt in the Force. She didn't identify any larger or hostile lifeforms.

"Want to wait out the storm here? Take a break?" She glanced up at the canopy. The thick foliage had provided some cover, despite the two Jedi being soaked. Being out in the open would just allow the inevitable to happen faster.

[Daria Nytherciria]

It was an appealing proposition. The clearing with an oasis in the thick of the jungle and when she searched her senses, Daria felt nothing but the ebb and flow of the nature...

“No,” she shook her head. It felt as if they had spent too long standing still since settling Ossus. As much as the rain weighed her down, there was something liberating about being on the move again. She didn't long for the days when they had been running, always evading capture at the last moment, but equally couldn't deny that it was good to feel the faint ache in her muscles and taste the fresh, damp air.

“It's good to be moving again, don't you think?”

[Navaria Tarkin]

She half smiled as Navaria brought her gaze down towards Daria. Her words struck a cord that already had been plucked since arriving on Dathomir. It felt good to be traveling once again. Almost liberating. And she could even feel past the dense power of the Force surrounding them, the immediate connection that both of them could sense, to know without any doubt that this is where they were meant to be.

"Yes it does," she said and reached out to squeeze her hand. "Almost like old times. Minus the blaster bolts and all that other nonsense."

With a glance back towards their goal, she gently tugged Daria to continue their trek. "Shall we?"

[Daria Nytherciria]

Daria gave a wordless nod, and they continued on. The Misty Valley continued to live up to its name, its slopes shrouded in cloud that clung to the tree tops like damp cobwebs. Daria listened to the sounds of the valley: the distant bird calls, the low whistle of the wind through knotted old trees. More than that, she listened to the Force, feeling the landscape.

"It would be... invaluable to work more closely with the Dathomiri, don't you think? There is so much knowledge that could be shared between our community and theirs."

[Navaria Tarkin]

"Oh I agree. Just the minor inconvenience of the Empire around this system." She smirked. "Not that it ever stopped us before."

Her robes soaked up the waters from the newly made pools as it dragged along the ground as boots sunk into the mud. The valley made for a slower trek than navigating the woods. But the Force remained invigorating that despite sore muscles, Navaria could easily manage.

"We can speak to the Clan Mother about our options since they're already expecting us."

[Daria Nytherciria]

"I'm surprised that Empire haven't made a more conscious effort to survey the planet and it's people."

The ground was uneven, but Daria appeared to have no trouble avoiding any particular deep puddles or potentially sticky bogs. The Force allowed her to see the contour of the land without truly seeing it, and to the outside observer it would look as if she was staring ahead into the distance whilst simultaneously placing her feet in exactly the right places to avoid a fall.

"Have you had dealings with the... witches before?"

[Navaria Tarkin]

She grunted in agreement as one of her boots sunk too deep into the mud to pry so easily. With a hearty tug of her leg, Navaria pulled it free with a slushy pop. She took a gander at the mud, shrugged, and resumed the trek as if nothing had happened at all.

"Not too much, no," she explained. "Just sporadic dealings with friendlier clans. Like the one we'll be speaking to. Helps that we're female since they're a matriarchal society, so it's a matter of being honest and upfront as to what we want. Lessens their distrust of strangers. But there'll always be suspicions. Including the Misty Valley Clan in our discoveries will help immensely with that."

[Daria Nytherciria]

Daria nodded along with Navaria's words. She understood the structure of the Dathomiri clans, broadly speaking, though she could not have said that she really understood it. Why deny men equality? With a mental shrug, she stepped without incident around the mud that had moments ago almost claimed Navaria's boot.

"Have you ever thought.. there could be merit in setting up an outpost here? To provide an alternative environment for training?"

[Navaria Tarkin]

"And how would you propose we start an outpost here to train other Jedi?" she asked with a combination of curiosity and humor in her voice. "How would we find legitimacy here within Imperial Space, let alone with the various clans of witches here? And this isn't to discourage, Daria. I believe this a planet where Jedi could thrive with their training, but we have to consider if the numerous factors against us outweigh the benefits."

The land was teeming with the Force. Such a raw natural connection would be beneficial to help groom the next generation of Jedi. There was the chance to culminate friendlier relations with the receptive clans of Dathomir. Yet there was that immediate factor of the Empire to be concerned about. Their presence may go unnoticed for a time since Imperial patrols were few and far between, but there was the chance of being discovered with frequent travels here. It may cause suspicion.

But it also felt so right being here. The question that remained was why?

[Daria Nytherciria]

"I'm not proposing that we attempt to unify the clans," she conceded. Daria would be the first to admit that she was not familiar enough with the Dathomiri natives to attempt a unification. More to the point, she had no desire to see them joined as one clan. "It's not our place to interfere in their society," she went on.

"As for the Empire, we've operated under their noses before." That was putting it mildly. In growing what had become a sizeable Jedi faction, Daria, Navaria - then Lianna - and others had set down temporarily in all manner of places. Now they had legitimacy in the eyes of the Alliance, they could train openly on Ossus, but... was that enough? There was something almost... claustrophobic about it. She did not say it out aloud, and perhaps only thought it in the back of her mind, but the longer they spent away from the world, the less Daria wanted to go back.

"I don't know. Perhaps it's a terrible idea... but it doesn't feel right to remain as one on Ossus."

[Navaria Tarkin]

Navaria smiled patiently as she was well aware that neither of them would endeavor to unite the witch clans! It was not their place, she agreed. She brought her head up and smiled, thankful that the clouds had given them a reprieve from the rain. Their position in the valley made it extremely easy for the water to collect at the floor of it and the Jedi Master had wondered if the lands would flood if the storm pressed on.

"That's better." Her boots still sloshed through the muddy puddles. "Was wondering if I'd sink to my knees..."

Despite the levity, Navaria was taking the conversation seriously. There was legitimacy to her lover's claims but was Dathomir the right locale to establish another Jedi presence?

"You're right. We have," she agreed with the point about the Empire. "Which means we can do it again. Our community is growing and we've already suffered the consequences of being densely populated in one area. We need to branch out."

[Daria Nytherciria]

“Precisely.”

There was something undeniable therapeutic and quite satisfying about walking on sodden earth. The rhythm of it, the extra moment of thought it required. The focus that required you to always be mindful of what you were doing. That was, Daria realised, what she missed – what, if she was honest with herself, she craved. It was all she had known, after all.

“We can't go back to the Order as it once was,” she went on, as much thinking aloud as carrying on the conversation with Navaria. While she talked, she looked ahead, empty eyes seemingly staring off into the horizon. “The galaxy is not now what it was then, but there are undoubtedly hundreds of potential Jedi... living in fear or denial of what they are.”

[Navaria Tarkin]

"A more hands on approach in actively searching for them instead of waiting for them to come to us?" she mused aloud. "There's a lot to consider on how we approach this. The logistics. Who would join us. Where do we go. How efforts would come about in finding our kin. It'll be a lot to sort out when we return to Ossus. Explain our intentions and all that."

She couldn't help the smile of amusement, nor could Navaria hide the affection she had for Daria in her voice when she continued. "You know? Those lively debates that we look forward to. But I'm sure that we won't have to deliberate long. I rather put effort into finding another suitable location for us as the need for it is quite apparent."

The respite from bad weather continued. Navaria decided to pull back the heavy, rain soaked hood and enjoy the aftermath of the storm, that sweet combination of soil and water that just invigorated the senses. They were also close enough to see the entrance to the cave they were looking for. "Not much further and we can camp for the night."

[Daria Nytherciria]

Daria cast her senses further ahead, feeling for the cave that Navaria had them heading towards. The energy of small lifeforces bloomed within, more of the planets ever-present flora and fauna.

"We only have a Council, but only because tradition dictates that we do. When it comes down to it, we're beholden to no one - and I know we owe the Alliance a great deal and our position on Ossus is a grace on their behalf, but... I just can't.. find... peace there. Something keeps is pulling me out into the Galaxy."

[Navaria Tarkin]

She frowned in thought, turning inward instead of answering so quickly. Duty was important to Navaria, especially as the liaison between the Jedi and Alliance. More often than not she had to fulfill her duties by comm as she and Daria were barely on Ossus. In fact, the Jedi couldn't remember the last time she had set foot on the planet. So to propose another location for a temple seem counter intuitive to what she suggested if the calling in Daria's heart, and hers if she were honest, was not to necessarily settle anywhere.

A singular home was never an option for Navaria. Whisked away soon after her birth, she lived planet to planet for her entire life. It was the life she was accustomed to. The life she was still living in the present.

Her boots squished atop the saturated grass, the sound bringing her back to the moment.

"I feel the same way," she admitted quietly. "Whatever purpose is here for me ...it's out here. Away from the temple."