A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles

Unconsciuslly, Tionne ignored all that was uttered; her concentration was on the moment and the imminent danger that lay ahead. The fiery blade scintillated in the sizzling sunlight, the breeze blowing across the rift brushing against it to create a low hum. The surroundings grew quieter, the chirping of the forest dying out into expectant silence. Tionne closed her eyes, grip of her saber tightening.

Her senses palpated across the ambrosial coppice, latching on the signatures of all that was living. A large being lurked in the shadows of the ferns, two icy blue eyes staring at them ominously. For Vendaxan predators, humans were easy prey. They were soft, meaty, usually slow; unlike the leathery lemnai, humans had no hard outer casing, no natural protection against clawed attacks. Even for a Jedi, survival would prove challenging, as beasts had the advantage of domestic terrain, their bodies shaped by millennia of evolution to prosper in such a hostile environment.

"A roggwart." Thanewulf projected over the Force, still standing her ground - "Run."

Suppressing fear, the Knight walked forward, aiming right into the bush where the beast was, determined to distract it enough so that Anbira can make it deeper into the jungle. She swung her saber from side to side tauntingly when her facial expression turned into grinning grimace.
"Come out and play with me, boy." the redhead voiced, every muscle in her body tensing, ready to deliver a strike at the first sight of movement.

"You still have some notion within you that I'm going to leave your side."

Rather than run, Anbira stepped forward, equal with Tionne, taking care to square his stance as the brush around them rumbled with the advance of something large.

Anbira had to admit, his expectations were met, and exceeded. The roggwart burst through, towering over the pair of Jedi as it roared loudly enough to shake the ground.

With grim determination, Anbira moved nary a foot, drawing his saber to life as he held a djem so power stance at the ready.

"A pleasure to see you as well."

The bearded Jedi readied himself for the worst. With claws like that, he imagined the roggwart preferred to make first introductions in that fashion. Not being disappointed, the roggwart wound back, reaching forward to skewer Anbira in his claws...

...and was instead unhanded in one clean cleave. A shocked shriek bellowed through the animal as it moved to jerk back its ember-studded, cauterized stump.

Anbira, seeing an opening, used the injured arm as a ramp, leaping up, and scrambling atop the beast. As the roggwart reached to snatch the offending assailant with its other hand, Anbira caught one of the long horns on its head with his free hand, using his momentum to spin around the beast's head, but not before raking his lightsaber into the base of the animal's neck.

The roggwart's nervous system terminated in one swift strike, the beast fell where gravity put it, dead on the spot. Anbira rode the dead roggwart's momentum to the ground, letting his body spill forward with a forward tumble, and rising to his feet again, just inches from Tionne.

"I feel like I'm home again already!"

"Hm, good I took him along..." Tionne mused to herself briefly upon witnessing Anbira slay the horrid beast before her very eyes. She almost felt sorry for the roggwart for its unfortunate fate, as it has only done what was natural to it. A light scowl formed on her face, a finger prodding Hicchoru's shoulder.

"That was not necessary. A Jedi respects all life-forms! If you did it to impress me... well, I am not impressed." Thanewulf protested, switching the saber off, arms crossed over chest. All of former meekness dissolved, leaving nothing but a stern, judgemental look on her face.
"I didn't take you here to cause a mass extinction. Save it, okay?"

Another glance was cast to the carcass, air exhaled through teeth with a hiss and eyes rolled in annoyance. Yet, there was something charming in how he refused to leave her side.
Without uttering anything else, Tionne clipped her saber back to her belt and sprung forwards in a Force-aided leap that transformed into quick dash through the greenery. Light on her foot, the Knight covered ground quickly, copper-red tail wagging behind her like a flag.

Anbira exhaled, deactivating his blade. She was right. How easy it was to get caught in the moment, to let survival happen through the path of least resistance. Wiping sweat from his brow, more accumulated from the heat of day than his exertions, he looked back at the slain roggwart.

It hadn't been necessary, had it? It wasn't a last recourse.

With care, Anbira ran a hand over the beast's half-lidded eyes, closing each, before rising up once more, and then took a force-augmented leap, bare feet striking against the nearest tree in just the right spot to carom his body to the next tree, higher up the trunk, repeating so that he quickly scaled to the canopy and found purchase on a supporting branch.

Ahead, he saw the remnants of Tionne's flight through the trees, a swaying branch, inviting him to follow. And follow he did.

Swift on her feet, Thanewulf meandered through the dense grove, over moss, ferns and intertwined roots darkened by the thick canopy above. The air was stale in these parts, lungs felt heavy with humidity as perspiration elicited steam out of the greenery under the scorching Venadaxan sun. Rivulets of sweat ran down Tionne's bare back, inviting to predators as mead to bees. It was not without reason that the Knight scolded Anbira for the slain animal. Despite their apparent abhorrence, the roggwarts were monogamous creatures; once they found a mate, they remained together for a lifetime. A feat rare with the sentient, Tionne thought.

Just as they reached the bottom of the cliff, a horrid shriek ripped the air around them. High-pitched, it resonated against the stones for a few moments. A lament, without a doubt.

"That was a male, the one you killed." Tionne ascertained knowingly, ginger brow furrowed at the Felucian hermit before even attempting to ascend up the vines - "And that is her mate. One and only mate, for life."
A rumble shook the nearby coppice.
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." she added before gripping on the creeping plant, ready to climb up.

"I sense in you some amount of empathy with our unintended adversary."

Anbira let his gaze linger behind for a moment, before travelling up to meet Tionne as she scaled the natural ramparts again. Making doubly sure to find a sure-anchored vine on the way up, Anbira wrapped one halfway around him, bracing with both legs against the cliff to let his body weight bounce on it. It felt adequately rigid.

With careful poise, he moved fist over fist on the vine, scaling up the ascent as his bare feet sought purchase to take the weight off his upper body on the climb.

"You've condemned a being to a solitary life." she voiced sourly, choosing a different, more vertical path for her ascent. Being lighter than Anbira, it was far easier to use vines as leverage, not having to worry if one was to break under the weight of her body.
"She will never mate again. Never raise young again. As a matter of fact, she might not make it though the next year without a hunting partner. It would be probably better if you just chopped her head off too to save her the trouble. Seems like you are good at that..."

During the entire trip upwards, Tionne avoided to look Anbira in the eyes. The Knight did not approve the brutality of his method; life was sacred for her. Slaughter could be avoided; humans had the cunningness and resourcefulness provided by their large brains and complex neocortex. Or perhaps a decade in the wilderness made Hicchoru more of a beast than a man?

Once they were back up on the plateau, slate eyes scanned the perimeter. The forest around them grew unnaturally quiet. The Force pulsated with an ominous presence, one other than the signature of two Knights roaming the jungle.
"An acklay." the redhead stated, hand placed on saber - "Run."

Barely catching his breath from the ascent, and silently enduring Tionne's admonishments, Anbira barely had enough time to gather himself before being commanded to run at the appearance of yet another predator.

"Does this one have any feelings I should avoid trampling as well?"

He could feel the creature breaking on their position, drawn in a way that was beyond simply the attraction their perspiring bodies elicited. Somehow, it had an affinity for the force.

Barring a better idea, he followed Tionne's lead, and took flight. The Acklay's shrill cry rang out in the air, punctuated by sharp clicks. It cleared the distance with an assured amount of ease.

After making sure Anbira was well on his way, Tionne turned her back to the approaching monster and scampered deeper into the thicket, employing as much momentum as the Force allowed. The Knight knew that two legs could never beat six extremities equipped with hinge joints designed to rapidly cover even the most difficult terrain; like a spider through a familiar web, the acklay progressed after her, accelerating to finally catch up. An ominous claw was stabbed into the ground, pinning Thanewulf into the wet clay, her waist trapped between pincers usually clapping together to make that horrid clicking sound.

"Ahhhh!" the redhead grunted, struggling to reach for her saber trapped between her belt and the claw. In the meantime, the acklay lowered its maw and gritted teeth together in a inauspicious rattle. Tionne clenched her teeth and sent a fist flying right into its eye with all the ferocity she could muster. The blow was far from devastating yet it was directed correctly; a loud shriek ripped the air and the animal retracted, freeing Tionne of its clawed skirmishes.

Drawn to Tionne's voice as she faltered, Anbira swung back immediately, his lightsaber snapping to life in an instant. Rather than bring it to bear against the Acklay and risk Tionne's indignation, he opted for the unorthodox, running the blade lazily against the thick foliage in their midst. The blade caught the vegetation on fire, creating a very noteworthy distraction.

"Another haymaker like that and our Acklay friend will be needing glasses. Will you be needing any assistance?"

Extinguishing his lightsaber, Anbira palmed it along with the holocron sack in one hand, and pulled at a branch from a dead tree nearby to snap it. Dipping the branch into the fire to ignite it, he leapt over the flames and smoke, landing closer to Tionne. The Acklay was quick to recover, and Anbira hurled the ember-crusted primitive torch in it's direction.

"Smart thinking, Hicchoru." the redhead noted sardonically, jumping up to her feet - "Why not start a forest fire and potentially kill all animals in a radius of few kilometers, instead of just one."
A golden blade flared to life and was swung from side to side in an attempt to intimidate the predator. Seemingly, both the fire and the glow of the lightsaber did nothing but enrage the acklay further. With sinister clicking, the monster advanced towards them, gaping its toothed maw. Every single hair on Tionne's body rose, indicating some form of static field forming between them and the acklay.

"What in the name of the Force..." the Knight muttered before an electric discharge shot from the acklay's mouth in Anbira's direction, a column of lightning buzzing through the air at remarkable speed. Tionne's blade was swung sideways to catch the ray of electricity and absorb it, blocking its progression. Sparks flew as Thanewulf used all muscle power to remain standing under the incoming flux of pure energy, yet an inch was lost every passing second.

"I...could use...assistance... Like...NOW!" she hissed through her teeth, eyes narrowing as she felt her stamina wane slowly.

With a surprised expression, Anbira again activated his saber, squaring his defenses into in a Shien deflection, catching a share of the Acklay's lightning and wicking it away from Tionne. As they both battled against it, Anbira frowned a bit.

"I think, all things considered, we can make exceptions for lightning-flinging acklay!"

Using careful footwork, he moved away from the Acklay, making sure that if the creature wished to keep up the fusilade, it would be difficult to impossible to inundate both targets completely.

For a crustacean, the acklay was far from obtuse. It sensed the two Jedi were trying to divide its attention, thus it closed its maw, interrupting the energy ray emanating from it. Furiously, the beast tilted forwards, lifting two fins in the air and stabbing them into the ground in an attempt to nail Anbira. Both blows were dangerously precise, taking great focus to be avoided. The speed at which it moved was dazzling and Tionne found herself without a better plan but to simply slaughter the acklay. If they tried to run, it would follow and try to devour them.

At this point, Thanewulf had enough of Vendaxa. With holocron safely in tow, she craved a real bed and a shower, a bottle of whiskey aboard The Valiant and the aromatic smoke of her pipe. And this persistent thing was standing in the way.
"I don't know about you..." the redhead voiced, twirling her saber around her wrist and preparing to slash across the tendon on one of many limbs of the acklay - "..but I've had enough of this place."

A blow was administered to chop off the lower ends of the acklay's two back fins, leaving it unable to retreat. Stumps sunk into the bog and the animal pranced, squealing in pain, yet the remaining limbs rattled, ready to poke through flesh. A heavy claw came flying right into Tionne's forehead, smacking her to fly a few meters away and land on her back, sliding across wet moss. Her vision became blurry from the impact, yet the redhead managed to curse -
"For frell's sake, kill it!"

"It's about time, really!"

Anbira retorted back, noting with some amount of irony that it took a knock to her head for her to come to her senses. Remaining in place, Anbira waited for the Acklay to strike, which didn't take long. Two of the sharp appendages speared down at him, and with minimal movement, Anbira sheared the ends away from him with two quick upward slashes. Unprepared for the sudden lack of forward-positioned appendages, the Acklay pitched forward a bit, which Anbira was more than happy to oblige with a pull through the force, which sent the creature's body crashing to the ground, using its own weight against it.

In pain and slow to rise, the acklay's head bobbed up from the ground, still triangulating on Anbira's position as he paced around to move towards Tionne. A desperate bite towards the Jedi Knight was met only with a blue blade thrust between jaws, to burst forth out the back of it's head. As the Acklay spasmed in death throes, Anbira deactivated his saber, looking back to his possibly-concussed partner.

"You won't be blaming me for this one."

He headed over to her, extending his hand.

"Are you okay?"

A sigh of relief escaped Tionne's mouth as she witnessed Anbira deliver one last, fatal blow. A part of her wanted to protest, yet her mouth remained shut. It had to be this way - it was either it or them. The acklay lay motionless on the ground, the air around them reeking of charred flesh. Propping herself up on her elbow, Thanewulf rubbed her head, copper locks escaping the loosely assembled ponytail.

"I'm fine..." she said, pouting her full lips - "I must have hit my head harder than I thought."
Accepting his hand to lift herself up to her feet, the Knight glanced around to note the havoc they created in the Vendaxan greenery.
"Who needs natural disasters when there is Anbira Hicchoru?" the Coruscanti commented and graced the hermit with a candid smile.
"Come on, lets go home."
With that being said, Tionne dashed through the fern bushes in the general direction of the ship, light on her feet as the very wind carrying their scent across the jungle.
As she ran through the wildwood, thoughts swarmed her mind. Did she unconsciously put a distance between herself and Anbira, afraid that spark from the night before would light again? Or was it the fruit's fault solely? And how did he feel about it in the end? Was it a moment of weakness or an overture into an alliance larger than life? So many questions remained unanswered, the aura of uncertainty still encompassing the two of them. Chasing such musings away, Tionne pressed a button atop her utility belt and the ramp of her ship lowered, offering a gateway to much desired safety.

It was only when Anbira approached the gangplank that he could at last feel the weight in his heavy, exhausted feet. Only now could he feel the cuts and stings from every hardship they'd endured on their journey through Vendaxa. His bandaged hand stung. His feet, fresh abrasions and blisters becoming nascent even through well-calloused soles, were tender. He sighed, slinging a bit of errant perspiration from his hair as he found the nearest seat, and occupied it.

"Well, I suppose this place is rather nice for a weekend getaway after all."

He looked up to Tionne, now appearing a bit spent, and passed the bag containing the holocron to her. It was the sum of all of their efforts.

"Absolutely. This place has action-tourism potential." the redhead remarked in jest upon stashing the bag with the holocron in a compartment just above the motherboard. She then slumped into the pilot seat and pressed a few buttons, sliding her fingers against the touch-screen to ignite the engine. And in a fraction of a moment, the power generator flared up with a roar and the entire ship jolted forwards under the venting exhausts that slowly made the vessel hover above the ground.

"I couldn't have done it without you." she exclaimed, swallowing some of that trademark pride. Regardless to how she felt about others helping her, they made one heck of a team. To honour that, Thanewulf smiled and extended a hand to pat Hicchoru on the shoulder.
"And I mean it."

Her hand was then retrieved and placed on the flight yoke; slowly lifting it to adjust the yaw, the ship took off, rocketing through the thick Vendaxan atmosphere into space. After assigning the nav-computer to calculate the route back to the Wheel, Thanewulf spoke again -
"I bet you could use a wash. There's a shower down the corridor, last door on the right. Don't use up all the hot water."

He gave a soft laugh at that.

"I suppose I smell like a true Vendaxa native by now."

It was true. He felt absolutely inundated by filth. A shower would do wonders. And water, no less?

"Real water, then? No sonic refreshers? That's a luxury you don't often expect to find."

Moving slowly he headed to where she directed him.

"Thank you for inviting me, Tionne. I want to think we gained more in our toils than just that holocron. I'm thankful for the experience."

"Let's hope it won't be the last." she replied when Anbira was just about to leave the cockpit and the stratosphere of Vendaxa dissolved into the endless blackness of the universe. Vendaxa Prime shone through the viewport, illuminating the Knight's face as she entertained herself with hyperlane calculations. The computer offered several possible routes, leaving Tionne to pick out one. Corellian run would be infested with Imperial patrol ships in search of smugglers and pirates, while The Hydan Way, albeit more lengthy, offered a safer and more stress-free trip. Choosing the latter, Tionne made final preparations for subspace jump. Once silver streaks of hyperspace gleamed over the viewport, the Coruscanti reclined back in the pilot's seat, putting hands behind her head. The back of her neck still ached from the fall.

"Well, Thanewulf... a job well done." the redhead voiced, purposefully talking to herself as she attempted to rationalize this whole episode with Hicchoru. A great deal of personal satisfaction overwhelmed when her eyes fell on the sack that withheld the holocron; it was a substantial acquisition for the budding Jedi Order, a magnificent tool of the Old from which younglings may learn. She would present it with pride before the Council and deposit it with the Miralukan Jedi for safe keeping as a first building block in re-establishing the Jedi Archives. Also, praise would be given to Anbira's heroism and unselfishness, which was indeed well-deserved. Tionne had never met a person so dedicated yet so simple and undemanding, pragmatic yet deeply spiritual on the inside. A man of action and a solicitous hermit whom years of isolation carved into an instrument of the Force. The spirits selected him for the purity of his intention and altruism unseen in mortal men. Anbira Hicchoru was all that Tionne was not; his resonance in the Force was captivating to those finely attuned. Drawn towards him like a moth to flame, the Knight entangled in a web one could not unwind from.

Tionne caught herself staring into a void with mouth open, barely remembering to blink.
"So is this what they warned us of, this warm feeling on the inside?" the redhead wondered inwardly, gently canting her head to the side - "The flutter and the jitters that shake the very foundations of ourselves? How wrong can it be to indulge just once? Shortly? For a moment?"
The question lingered for a while before Tionne reclaimed her focus.
"Nobody has to know..."
"And if nobody knows, it's like it didn't happen....right?"
"Right."

Every atom of her being knew the premises and the reasoning to be false, but an argument was needed to push Tionne over the edge and right into the hermit's arms. With a flash, her mind went blank and all barriers were removed, the influx of emotions stirring her insides into a brewing storm. A lifetime of suppression accounted for potency of sensation; one touch would detonate across her neural nodes like a thousand supernovas. Notwithstanding, the redhead was not aiming at her own indulgence but rather at the pleasure of the man occupying her shower. Getting up from her seat, Tionne peeled that little excess cloth off herself and walked trough the confined hallway to the shower. The sound of running water pacified; she leaned against the doorway, the curvature of her body barely visible in the subtle red lighting.

Anbira leaned forward, resting his arms and forehead against the cool of the shower stall's surface as the hot water provided contrast. Though less efficient than sonic refreshers, there was some intangible quality that Anbira preferred with a water shower. Perhaps the smell of the water, even among the smells of earthy minerals washing away and of soap. Something in that smell hung thick in the steamy air, and afforded him the luxury of breathing deep to take note of it.

Inside, his mind raced. He had been alone for so long, and everything in isolation made so much sense. Now with Tionne, everything changed about his assumptions. He knew there were dangers, and wrestled with the dilemma of how he felt for Tionne, and his obligations to his life's duty. Attachment bred a desire to possess, which bred greed and jealousy, the gateways to the Dark Side. This was a dangerous path to walk. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, he wondered how so many Jedi before him confronted this manner of inevitability.

He sensed her approach. He didn't need to see her silhouette in the shrouded shower door. Turning, he addressed her.

"I keep thinking of our time in the tree. I keep thinking about what you said, Tionne. I don't wish to deceive anyone, much less ourselves. How can we face two inherently good things, set apart from each other?"

A hand appeared on the steamed glass as Anbira pressed it forward for her to see.

"If we go this path, it is dangerous. Every part of my feelings tell me this. And I can't look away. I can't turn away from seeing a future with you."