Another Job

[Emerald Sage]

Hoofing it up the path Emerald looked over at [member="Kima Betna"] and considered for a moment. "Aww, you mean we're going to get all wet?" a wink followed as she continued on the path. "If we're going to be out here awhile, I don't suppose we have time to try and catch a fish or two in that river." Emerald liked fish, and while she could photosynthesize to suppliment the need for food she preferred to have a fresh source of protein on hand if they were going to be about hard work. "I'm sure these packs have rations in them, but lets be honest fresh food is so much better." Emerald stretched her arms up over her head letting her shirt ride up and show bare midriff. All the while she was sending a mild dose of pheromones about her. She had to make a good impression on her new employer. "Besides, you get to see my survival skills if we make a pit stop."

Emerald was already considering the various methods of catching fish without proper equipment. She concluded that rather than fashioning a line and lure or a net system from natures bounty the Mandalorian with her would appreciate a simple gig or spear from which to catch it. All the better for Emerald as she herself preferred those methods. "So what do you say? Or are we in a hurry?"

 

[Kima Betna]

"We could grab a few fish, sure," Kima didn't mind fresh food and it had been a while since she'd had cooked fish anyways. The only problems were that they'd have to carry the fish out and up the ridge to where they could camp on more or less flat ground. That, and the strange warmth was back in her sinuses, making it a bit hard to think straight unless she focused. It was the kind of feeling one had when one was comfortable, very comfortable and relaxed. For someone who relaxed with an ale in one hand or a challenging brawl to be had, it was an odd feeling and brought a strange sort of lethargy. Trying to concentrate, she pulled the ax from her belt and gestured to some of the trees around.

"We'll just need a few straight, solid lengths of wood. About two meters or so long if you can, though a bit shorter is fine, too. We'll make some fishing spears out of them and see what we can catch out in the water."

Suiting action to word, she began investigating a few nearby trees and saplings. Soon enough, she found a few limbs straight enough and long enough to function and got to work with the ax, slivers of wood flying off with each swing as she cut them free.

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

Emerald wasn't sure what [member="Kima Betna"] knew about her, and wasn't about to make any revelations. When the young woman left to retrieve sticks Emerald, despite desire to simply will a tree with suitable limbs into existence, followed suit. A simple utility knife carved the proper shape of the gig which she held open with twine created from leaves of a nearby leaf. Next came her clothing. Emerald rolled up her pants and flung her pack and shoes aside wading into the water. If she had felt it appropriate she would have thrown off all her clothes in order to enjoy the fresh sunlight better. Then again the Mandalorian with her would have probably been immune to such normal galactic improprieties.

Moving by the river Emerald waiting for the opportune moment. It didn't take too terribly long for three fish to appear. The river was in a less populated region where over fishing hadn't taken its toll. Water refracted light and one had to know the proper angle in which to jab with the gig. Emerald had done such things before and quickly stabbed into one of the fish, the other two scattering from the blow. Standing triumphant she looked for Kima and pointed out where the other fish had fled.

 

[Kima Betna]

The makeshift fishing spears collected, she had taken the time to split the ends crossways, slipping a small stick into the gaps to create a four-pronged spearhead. The concept was simple and made hitting a swimming fish much easier than using a spear with a single point.

Spears made, she pulled off the tunic and boots before rolling them up and stuffing them into her pack. Now clad only in a breastband and breeches, she rolled the pantlegs to her knees and made her way down to the water. She spotted Emerald's gesture and spotted both fish in the clear water. She hadn't yet stepped into the river itself, but stood on the bank. She realized that stepping into the water as the fish were nearby could possible set them swimming away again, but that she needed to get closer to catch them.

Unless...

Frowning to herself a moment, she took two of the spears and hefted them, one in each hand. Mostly, she didn't want to miss catching either of the fish, but admittedly she did feel like showing off a bit. She gauged the distance and stepped along the bank a few feet to get the angle she felt was necessary. Satisfied with positioning and range, she tensed only briefly, the muscles of her arms and torso clearly visible in the sunlight as she did. With a quiet grunt of air and exertion, both spears flew through the air until they broke the water ahead.

Kima hopped into the river, the water splashing up to her thighs as she sloshed towards her spears. Snagging one and then the other, she raised them one at a time out of the water. One the ends of each was the wriggling body of a fish.

"So..." she said with a lopsided grin. "Dinner's on me?"

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

Emerald smiled over at [member="Kima Betna"] holding up the fish she herself caught. "I think this will do me just fine," she said with a bit of a wink. "I gotta keep up my figure. It's vital to my work afterall." Shrugging and making her way back to the shore she added. "I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually too."

Should she start a fire? This was only meant to be a quick stop off before continuing on. No instead Emerald stabbed the fight through the mouth and a fixed it to a shafted stick. "We should keep moving yes?" she walked over to her shoes and put them back on. and rolling her pant legs back down.

 

[Kima Betna]

"We should, aye," she said as she strung the fish along a leather cord pulled from her pack. The tied the cord to her pack and secured the spears as well, making sure all was tightened down. She pulled on her boots and rolled down the legs of her breeches, but decided against the tunic, leaving it rolled up and tied to the top of her pack. Shouldering the pack and her bow, she lead the way up the path.

The path was steep and rocky, but not exceptionally difficult to manage. The hardest part was keeping balance, something that was greatly aided by the use of her bevii'ragir.

"So what made you take this job?" she asked as they neared the end of the rocky slopes. "Not many outsiders would take a mercenary job from a nation of... well... mercenaries."

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

[member="Kima Betna"]

Why did Emerald take this job? The truth of the matter was less interesting than one would suspect. Fame didn't interest Emerald and fortune was only a tertiary motivation. "Truth is," She said aloud collecting her thoughts for a brief moment. "I never gave it much thought. I go where the jobs are. I like the thrill of the chase sure. The challenge of infiltrating a place, of creating a cover and trying to piece together information. But mostly I came because the offer was there."

She shrugged. People thought too much about motives and reasoning. "Someone had to take the job, might as well be me. Besides I imagine you lot get into some interesting situations." And there it was, simple as that.

"So, you got a special guy in your life? Someone your age, and looking like you must have suitors?"

 

[Kima Betna]

"Special guy?" came the only response, an eyebrow raised. "No, no special anyone, no significant others, if that's what you mean."

She thought a moment or two to herself, thinking over this outsider and the questions she'd asked. She didn't know much about Mandalorian culture, much less the culture of Kima's clan. Normally, she'd have left it at that and swapped conversations, but for some reason she felt like elaborating. She wondered if that was to do with the warm sensation in her sinuses earlier and that it might be affecting her judgement in some ways.

"I'm what is called a Cayatr A'den... or, at least, I'm almost one. I have yet to complete my hunt to earn the title formally," she said as the reached the top of the slope. From there on it was still an uphill hike, but nowhere near as steep of a climb. Ahead, one could see the ridgeline in question as well as greater, larger mountain behind so thick with foliage that one could not see the mountain itself. "Cayatr A'den means... Well, the outsiders who face us have taken to calling us Berserkers, if that helps with the translation. We're put in the greatest danger because in while we're in a Rage we have no fear, feel no pain. We fight like devils and are heavily valued as some of the best shock troops the Clans can muster, but it comes at a cost."

She kept leading the way, taking up the spear and placing it across her shoulders and her arms across the spear to either side as they walked. With the slopes now gentler than they had been before, the warrior felt more comfortable without using the weapon as a walking stick. Besides, for some reason she felt more comfortable in such a position when discussing the topic at hand, though she knew not why.

"Cayatr A'den is a prestigious rank in this clan and one that few can earn. In order to earn it, you must prove that you can enter a Rage whether by trance or by Katag'ihr. In that trance, you become stronger and can ignore wounds, but you can't... think straight. You take risks you normally wouldn't and there are few Berserkers that survive past their thirties. So, no, there is no special person for me, simply because I have no way of knowing if I'll survive long enough to strengthen those bonds or even think about a family. And so I don't bother and focus on my calling and focus on fighting."

Quietly angry with herself, she wondered why she had volunteered so much personal information, such private thoughts. She made a mental note to speak with the Alor or, perhaps more likely, the Alor'riduur about it. She already suspected Emerald could be Force sensitive with the brush across her mind earlier, but could there be something else?

"Anyways, what about you? Anyone waiting for you at home?"

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

Emerald laughed a little as she saw the dilating pupils of [member="Kima Betna"]. "I might have a person or two waiting for me. Or at least they'd like to think I"m theirs. Truth is I'm no ones woman." The scenery was pretty up in the mountains and Emerald could see why people liked it. "I don't mind humans, although relationships with them might be difficult. You live for so few years and I know that any relationship I have will end with them old and me still young." Shrugging she said. "Doesn't mean I can't have some fun through right?"

She wondered if Kima knew she was walking with an alien. Well obviously she did now, she'd be able to figure it out, but before that. Oh well, doesn't really matter. "You should try it. Someone like you with athletic build and nice features. I'm sure you could have lots of fun." Emerald licked her lips and winked over at the Kima.

 

[Kima Betna]

"I have plenty of fun with just fighting," came the response with a smirk. Looking around, she nodded once and shrugged off the pack and leaned the spear against a nearby tree.

So, her companion had admitted to not being human. That was entirely fine by Kima, many Mandalorians were aliens or near-humans and that was fully acceptable. It did, however, let her know that in addition to possibly being a Force sensitive, her companion could have hidden abilities, one of which could have caused the odd sensations she felt earlier and now. She tucked the information away for future reference and questioning and go to work.

"The area just here is the flattest and looks to be a wide enough area," she stated, gesturing at the mostly level, though forested area around them. Opening her pack, she pulled out a small device and held it up. "What we'll do is use these. You take your two and head to one corner of this flat section while I go to the other. Once there, it should activate and hover, then just take the other one and we'll repeat the process with the other corners. So long as we have a straight enough line between us, they should turn on and get to work. All we really have to do is clear a few trees for a shuttle and heavy equipment to get in after that."

Behind them rose the rounded peak of the mountain that had appeared earlier. To the casual observer, it looked like a densely forested mountainside, but upon closer observation one would find something... more...

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

This was all an odd test for a mercenary. It seemed that an engineering team could have just as easily done the survey and the clearing of a few trees. Hell a ship doing a flyby with the right sensors could have easily penetrated the canopy and provided a precise three dimensional map of the area. From that they could find an appropriate landing spot and then clear it using incendiary munitions. Frowning Emerald took the device and walked off to her required position.

In the distance was a mountain. It was a large sort of mountain filled with foliage that put a smile on her face. There was something strange about the entire situation. Through her attuned senses she could feel life emanating from the large protrusion of earth. Life beyond simple trees. "[member="Kima Betna"]," Emerald said using the woman's full name to emphasis her point. "Did you know what that mountain is?"

it loomed in the distance and had thought and purpose. Emerald found herself looking upon it a grin forming on her face and then widening as she expanded her senses to include it. "That mountain is a tree..." One of, if not the, biggest tree she'd ever seen. Its roots had sunk deep and thousands of years of soil had piled up and about it as it continued to grow reaching up towards the very stars.

 

[Kima Betna]

Kima looked in the direction Emerald meant, her eyes taking in the giant mound of green foliage. She raised an eyebrow and looked at her companion, and then realized once more that Emerald was an outsider. She'd not been among Mandalorians before, as far as she knew. At least, in as much as a culture she hadn't.

"That," she said after a moment. "Is Kun'Kurshi. It's an ancient tree, been here as long as almost anyone can remember. I think there was some botanist from another clan who came and theorized it was thousands upon thousands of years old, easily around before the Taung came here."

She reached her corner of the area and activated the device she carried. It hummed quietly and extended a pair of arms before hovering deadly still in the air, forming one corner of the survey site.

"There are legends that state Kun'Kurshi holds up the sky on Mandalore or that it forms the wild heart of the planet. The more superstitious claim that under the branches of Kun'Kurshi is where the old Mandalorian gods would meet and debate, arguing or holding meetings, deciding the fate of the Mandalorian people. Regardless, many people come from all over Mandalore or from where there are Mandalorians that honor the old ways. They sit beneath the trees and reflect and some even bring offerings to lay at its roots."

She looked at her companion and cocked her head, a few blonde locks slipping over her forehead.

"Would you like to go and see it?"

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

Emerald narrowed her eyes as she considered the giant tree for a moment. Emerald was a plant and in part she was interested in plants. Humans didn't always want to go see monkeys and so Emerald constantly fought against her desire to learn things botanical. Her brother Hylo would have jumped up, spawned a slower on his head, and rushed headlong at the megalithic tree off in the distance. "I mean," she said finishing her set up of the equipment. She fiddled with dials and making final preparations and activating the device. "If you have the time...."

That's right. Just act nonchalant. Don't be chalant. Taking a bit of a breath in excitement Emerald then looked back at [member="Kima Betna"] with doe eyes. "And if you want to take me..."

 

[Kima Betna]

Kima grinned and nodded once as she moved to set up the other surveyor device. It hummed like the first and hovered in place, two arms extending to line up with two of the other devices already set up. The concept was simple as the four probes served as the four corners of the surveying area. Now, all there was to it was to wait.

"Once you set that probe up, we can go down," she said as she stepped away from the probe and retrieved her spear. She gestured at the fish that Emerald had with her gear, the one she'd slid through on a stick. "Grab that fish as well."

As she waited for Emerald to finish with the second probe, she took the two other fish and deftly gutted them before preparing them to cook. The inedible parts and fish innards set aside, she pulled a small device from her pack and activated it, sliding the meat inside and sealing the cooker.

"It'll take about a half hour or so to get down there and another to come back up. The fish should be ready in an hour and a half on that slow-cook setting so we have enough time to go look around. Shall we?"

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

Quickly Emerald busied herself fixing the final survey probe. With a press of a button and a lick of the lips she set it into motion before taking her moderate sized fish and placing it over the fire allowing the heat and smoke to start to cook. "So," Emerald said putting her hands on her hips and looking over at [member="Kima Betna"]. "Let's go see this big ole tree."

Taking a deep breath she started the walk. It was an impressive tree and something was driving her to see it. It was, in her estimation, a splendid way to waste a day. How this effected her standing as a Mercenary for Kima's clan she wouldn't know. The truth was she didn't particularly care. This was a nice day out in the country. The only thing that would make it nicer was if Kima allowed her to use explosives instead of axes on all the trees that needed to be cleared when the survey was done. Yes Emerald liked to blow things up, even more than she liked leisurely strolls and giant mystical trees. "So this tree is old you say? Far older than even you're civilization? So what type of tree is it? Has there ever been any studies? What are it's measurements. Do you think there are others like it? I've seen bulbs that could latch onto starships and then take seen on many different planetary biomes. You think this might be a tree like that? Could explain why there is only one. IT can't pollinate and can't cross pollinate with the native plants. Although it might be able to make clonal colonies. I saw a forest of a single tree once. Clonal Colonies get weird...."

 

[Kima Betna]

She raised an eyebrow at her companion for a moment before snagging the whole fish Emerald had just put in the cooker.

"Meant 'grab it to take with us', not 'grab and toss in to cook'," she stated with a half grin before sliding the leather cord from earlier through its gills. "Should have been clearer, sorry. You'll see what we need it for when we get there."

She listened to the outsider's questions with an amused grin, spotting Emerald's enthusiasm beneath the surface. That was fine by her, though. Many people got excited over the tree when they first saw it and, in all honesty, Kima figured that there was a reason her clan had settled in the area more so than because of all the wild game nearby. It wasn't a stretch to think the nearness of the giant tree was more than a coincidence.

"I don't know of any tests that were done, but as far as I know the scientific consensus is that it easily predates the Mandalorian presence on the planet. It's a Veshok tree, native to Mandalore. In fact, almost all of our forests are Veshok, so its far from the only species of its kind. I don't think anyone has actually measured its height, but it's fairly huge. The Alor even banned flight in the airspace over the tree except for unusual circumstances, which is why we weren't able to fly in. The shuttles have permission to fly and land this close, but that's it and that's only to drop off a single load of heavy equipment and later to unload a specific building material. As far as we know, it's the only one of this size on the planet. Some Veshok trees can become quite large, but even the largest of those is a fraction of Kun'Kurshi's size."

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

Emerald perked up at the mention of taking a fish with her. Her mind raced at the implications. Was kima just hungry for a snack? That didn't make sense she said the fish would be done by the time they came back, meaning that is when she was planning on eating. Grabbing the fish Emerald came up with another idea. Fish made great fertilizer. You could bury one in the dirt and it would provide a ton of nutrients to the plants in the area... "Is this fish an offering to the tree?" She asked with an excited high pitch added to her voice.

Then she wondered why the Mandalorians never did any studies on the tree itself. She supposed though that their warrior nature someone made them not interested in such things. If it didn't blow up... well she suspected they didn't care all that much. "Do you think it would be possible for us to get permission to come back, take some soil samples and maybe get some equipment to measure?"

Yes trees were fascinating. Almost as much as bees. Emerald liked Bees.

[member="Kima Betna"]

 

[Kima Betna]

"You'll have to find out," was Kima's only response as they made their way down the ridge towards the massive tree.

As they walked the forest changed, but only slightly. Instead of rocks and outcrops of stone, the earth swelled and buckled in places. Here and there, what could only be giant roots broke free from the ground, their surfaces covered in lichen, moss, and other overgrowth. Ahead, the great tree grew larger as it dominated the sky above. Occasionally trinkets or other decorations could be seen, some hung from low branches to mark the route to the tree, others draped over the roots of the ancient tree. The items left were typical of Mandalorian culture in most cases. Captured battle flags, faded with age, could be seen among broken blades or rusted weapons. The occasional breeze rattled ad hoc wind chimes made of scraps of armor or animal bones while pelts and hides, some from far-flung planets and worlds, could be seen on tree root or upon the ground, a place where offerings had been left.

"You'd have to ask the Alor about the rest of that," she stated simply, stepping around a makeshift windchime built of bone and scraps of durasteel armor. "He'd have to give the okay on that, not me."

Up ahead, the base of the tree could be seen. No one else could be seen, but many pelts, hides, and even captured banners were neatly laid out upon the ground. Some were old enough that vine and root had punctured with time, though some seemed to have been laid out only days before. Upon most were offerings of fruit, meat, or battle trophies.

"Well, we're here. This is Kun'Kurshi."

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

"Kun'Kushi," the very name rare and exotic as it left her lips. Emerald had to admit it was a sight to see. It was clear that this tree was revered by the local people with offerings laid upon its very roots. "Is this tree a god to you?" More trees needed to be gods. Her mother would clearly approve of that outlook. "Do you think you could put in a word with the Alor for me? To see if I can get some scans. Nothing invasive I assure you." That was probably asking too much. They had just met afterall. "Anyways where should I offer the fish? Can I place it nearer the base of the tree? Can I touch the trunk?"

These were all important questions to Emerald. She was excited afterall.

[member="Kima Betna"]