Break the Chains

[Adder]

Despite all the encouragement and deeds she'd witnessed today, the woman still wasn't entirely convinced. In just a few hours, riding shotgun with the blonde had taken her halfway across the Galaxy in a mad chase after slavers she would never dream of taking on before. Not without a squad of trainer operatives and lengthy, in-depth preparation.

But what the Jedi girl was speaking of… it sounded like something Adder might call home. She'd heard of Sullust, but that was about it. These people, whoever they are, seemed to be the good sort, and if even a few were anything like [member="Aela Talith"], the redhead could very well stick around for… a while. Yeah, a while sounded good.

For every beauty of the Universe that she'd uncovered in her travels, Adder had seen ten horrors, and the dark blots could stain even the brightest of memories with their blight. A place to rest and recuperate, a place where she wouldn't have to keep an eye out for the next potential criminal. A place of peace.

"I'd very much like to go with you," she spoke sincerely as she pulled away from her recollection, smiling a silly little smile before clearing her throat and looking away.

"Right. I think that's all of them. What do we do with the station?"

She didn't quite think they were the type to blow it all up, especially since it could be put to much better use, but Adder was ever on her toes, and her gut was busy doing other things than telling her what might happen next. Damn you, butterflies.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

She gave the redhead a nod.

More people were always good. Adder wasn't a Jedi, but she had skills and smarts that could be useful in the coming months, though truthfully Aela had no idea what those months would brings. That made her nervous. She knew that things wouldn't be as simple as they had been, she knew that things would get complex. Politics would begin to enter her life, dealing with the Republic, The Silver Sanctum, and perhaps even more fringe factions.

She knew that her life was about to get more complex, and she knew that having more people at her side that she trusted would only work in her favor. Oddly enough she did trust Adder, the two of them had just spent a few days together fighting slavers after all. If that didn't breed trust then nothing would. Her eyes cast away from the redhead and back towards the stations insides, her lips thinning as she thought about what would happen to this place.

"The slavers will be arrested." That much was obvious, though on whose authority not so much. "From there..."

She trailed off for a second. They were far away from where the Alliance would build itself, but an outpost was never a bad thing. "A medical outpost I think."

Aela nodded to herself. That seemed right. They could work with the Protectorate and the Republic to set up something in this place. Nothing huge, but a small base for emergencies. It seemed fitting that this place of horror would become something that could help people, something that could heal the damage that the slavers had done. Another nod dipped her head, and she half turned.

"Come on. I'll show you where you can rest." She was tired, she needed to get some sleep.

 

[Adder]

"Arrested by who?" she cut in, brow furrowing in concern. They were in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't like the Republic had jurisdiction here, and even if they had, they likely wouldn't have done anything. She'd seen in the past how they 'handled' things, and it always ended up with the rich ones getting away on some technicality or other.

She didn't care for their sort of justice.

A medical outpost would be good, though. The middle of nowhere was usually where battle, crime, and neglect struck first, and hardest, and people would need all the help they could get. The Galaxy was descending ever further into turmoil, and when the superpowers duked it out, all else could go to Nether, so long as they got their precious war.

Adder squeezed the metal of her right hand into a tight fist to rein in a surge of emotion, nodding absently to the blonde as the other woman led her into the friendly vessel. The ship was a far cry from the rust bucket now lying abandoned a ways deeper into the hangar, plumes of smoke still trailing from its misshapen wreckage. It was larger, newer, slicker, and likely faster and more agile as well. An all-around upgrade, that was for sure.

"I can sleep in a chair or something," she muttered as they turned into a side corridor. "They need the beds far more than me." Her eyes lingered for a few moments on a group of slaves in one of the cabins, their ragtag bunch accompanied by a number of [member="Aela Talith"]'s crew who were helping them lay down.

Forcibly, she averted her gaze and caught up to the Jedi with a few long strides as she tried not to think too hard about how sleeping in a chair will feel the next morning.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

"Us." She said with a smile, as though that were enough. "We're not a government, not yet, but we will be. The Galactic Alliance, they want to call it."

Aela began to recount what was about to happen to Adder. There was no secret kept, no need for there to be one. "A few months after the Sith Empire fell, before the One Sith rose in core, a few members of the Jedi Order left for the outer rim. One of these Jedi was Master Omai Rhen. He left, thinking the Sith were defeated. Similarly, during the Netherworld event a fleet from the Republic was cast into a spacial anomaly. They resurfaced near the rim. Master Rhen recently returned, and called on me, and others like me, to form a New Jedi Order devoted to fighting the Sith. One without the...baggage of the Old Order."

There was nothing wrong with the current Jedi Order, but they had something holding them back, something that restricted them.

"Rhen was smart, and he linked up with that fleet I mentioned earlier. Like by an old Mon Calamri admiral. The two of them together went to Sullust, a planet that was newly free of a major government." With the Protectorate gone, many worlds now stood alone. "They formed an Alliance. Master Rhen would lead the Order, the Admiral the Military, and Sullust would be their home. A few other planets have already joined, forming the quickly growing Galactic Alliance."

One would have thought her a historian. "It's that authority that we arrest these slavers under. A coming government."

Perhaps it was unlawful to a point, but truthfully, who cared. These men were slavers, scum, the worst of the worst. In Aela's mind they hardly deserved the rights that they would be given by the Alliance once taken back to the the prisons there. Of course they would be treaty fairly, properly even.

When Adder mentioned sleeping in a chair she shook her head. "The Rising Tide has space for over four hundred people. We have more than enough room for everyone, though you'll need to share a bathroom."

There were only a few private rooms on the ship, most of them belonged to either Aela's siblings and her or members of the 'brat pack'. The other rooms weren't bad in anyway, much like those contained within Jedi Temple on Ossus. Small and cramped, but comfortable enough to sleep alone.

 

[Adder]

She opened her mouth to interject, but thought better of it and shut it again, choosing instead to listen what the girl had to say. It was still an issue, sometimes, listening to people. So often her idea of what should happen was so ingrained in her mind that Adder never even bothered to give the other opinion a chance. It was… a work in progress.

They passed various groups of slaves, both big and small, huddled close together while medics and crewmen attended those who were in need. Seeing their exhausted, wary faces made Adder's heart shrink in her chest. For many, they had come too late. They were protected from further harm, yes, and would be taken care of once they arrived to Sullust, but the woman had seen what trauma does to people. Most never truly recovered from some of the things they had witnessed on the job, and the redhead shuddered to think what being captured and tortured would to to someone's psyche.

Forcibly, Adder extracted herself from memories again, nodding slightly as [member="Aela Talith"] finished her brief history course. It was amusing, in a way, to have a girl nearly a decade younger explain to her what had been going on in the past years. Then again, the Jedi couldn't rightly know what she'd gone through before they'd met. It was nice, really, not to have the shadows of her past hounding her every step.

A new start. A chance to do something good, again, without flailing helplessly at the fringes of the civilized Galaxy trying to make a difference for people who didn't care.

The realization that she could start over was abrupt, and nearly had Adder stop in her tracks as she blinked emptily at the back of the girl in front of her for a few moments. Just like that. She wanted to pinch herself to check if this was actually real, or if she was just lying on top of some bar table, passed out from fatigue and drink.

"Won't be an issue," she chuckled softly and peeked around the Jedi's figure into the designated cabin. "I've slept in worse." Much worse. A quick glance overviewed a small bed and a locker where she could store what little possessions she had. Indeed, the bedroom was practically a deluxe suite by Adder's standards.

"Thank you," she said and turned slightly to squeeze the Jedi's hand. "If there's anything I can do to help out, just say the word."

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

It was nice, nice enough anyway.

"We'll see about finding you something bigger when we get to Sullust." She didn't exactly know what Adder's situation would be. Somehow she doubted that the woman would want to join the military, nor could she join the New Jedi Order. Yet there would be a place for her, Aela would make sure of that. "Maybe something in the new Temple."

That would be possible.

The New Jedi Order would be more open to outsiders than the old one. A bit more flexible, getting Adder a room there wouldn't be impossible, especially since the place would be huge. Sullust was an odd sort of spot to exist on, but the New Jedi Temple had been designed to feature both overground and underground structures. The above ground would be contained in a massive bio-dome, beautiful and as regal as the Jedi Temple had been on Coruscant. The underground structure would be far more...militaristic. These decisions had already been made by Rhen and the others, and most within the New Order approved, or at least Aela and her people did.

She smiled at Adder, then half turned out of the room. "I'll leave you to your rest. I expect that we'll be leaving soon."

She needed the sleep as much as the redhead did, maybe more. The Force took a lot out of her.

 

[Adder]

She nodded an affirmative and slipped past the threshold and into her designated room. It looked smaller from the inside, and only now could she hear the soft tremble of the air passing through the grates in the corner of the room. It was the sweetest lullaby she could ask for; having grown up in arguably the largest, tallest, and loudest city in the known Galaxy, Adder was used to having some kind of background noise to lull her to sleep. She found her sleep out in the wilds — the fair few times it had happened, anyway — to be fitful and light, and when morning came she always felt like a sagging bag of bones.

Or maybe she was just getting old.

"Thank you," she spoke softly and offered a tired smile to the younger girl, keeping it on her face until she disappeared down the corridor. The expression peeled back, then, and Adder nearly collapsed onto the narrow bed, eager to close her eyes and drift away to the land of dreams.

No.

With a stern, steely voice, the redhead forced her heavy eyelids open once more, growling with exertion as she picked herself up once more. She was grimy, sweaty, and bloody from the hours of fighting and running they'd done. She couldn't fall asleep like that and not feel bad about it the next day.

Lamenting her own conscience, Adder dragged herself out of the room and glanced around the hallway, realizing with some chagrin that she'd forgotten to ask where the shared bathroom was. Brilliant.

Mentally slapping herself, the woman wandered into the direction [member="Aela Talith"] had disappeared to, hoping that a door would jump out at her soon enough.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

Aela had wandered off to her own room.

It was larger than the one that she had given to Adder, though that should have been more than obvious. The cabin that Aela called her home was about as large as any average bedroom. Attached to it was a refresher, equipped with a shower and other small amenities that one might expect from a captains cabin. The room was decorated in an almost tribal manner. A mannequin with leather armor stood in one corner of the room, a large blade sat in a nook on the dresser, and a length or rope was fashioned around the handle. Art on the wall would be reminiscent of the jungles of Onderon and Dxun, indeed a few of the portraits included orange blurs that on closer inspection could be found to be Skreeve.

Of course, the most interesting thing within the room was not an inanimate object, but instead a live being.

On the bed, neatly nestled into a small bit of blanket and pillows sat a small green creature. The creature had black spikes jutting from its back, its huge maw was closed and beady black eyes seemed to look towards the refresher were the sound of a sonic shower could be heard. This veritable monster was a Drexl.

The Drexl Larvae, not yet named by Aela, as per tradition, had been acquired by the young woman through a quest with her sister. Maleah and Aela had visited Dxun some weeks ago, hunting for a Drexl Nest and taking two eggs from a clutch of thirteen. Aela had cared for the egg until it hatched, the creature had no imprinted on Aela, and slowly it was beginning to grow larger and larger. Eventually, probably in a few weeks time she would have to move it to the cargo hold, and once it sprouted its wings and grew into an adult, it was very likely she would need a new ship.

For now, however, the creature sat comfortably upon Aela's bed.

 

[Adder]

For the amount of feet dragging and wall support, Adder might as well have been drunk. At this point, it was hard to tell which was worse; intoxication or fatigue. The redhead had abandoned the bottle a while ago and never looked back, because losing one arm to drink was quite enough.

Frowning at her grim thoughts, the woman stopped for a moment to collect herself, foolishly failing to look just where she'd placed her palm.

Adder tumbled to the floor with a surprised yelp as the sliding doors retracted into the wall, landing flat on her side as all air was knocked from her lungs. Instead of getting up, the woman just lay there for a few moments, entirely too tired to move. Her muscles ached, her ribs felt cracked, and she was sure there was about a hundred bruises preparing to break out all over her body. This was crap. She was done. And whose karking bedroom had she just crashed into?

She rolled over onto her back with a groan and craned her neck to get a better view of the space. Desk, check; bed, check; small, vaguely dragon-like creature… check?

Her brow furrowed as curiosity outweighed the strain of the day for a moment, and Adder picked herself up from the floor with newfound strength, closing the distance with a few short strides. As she approached the odd little beast, her training and instincts kicked in, and the woman slowed down, extending her open left palm with attention and care so as to not scare the animal.

"Hey there," she murmured softly to the small monster, wondering briefly if she was about to lose the other hand too. She found she was simply too tired to care.


[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

Aela was in the shower, a wholly unsatisfying shower to be sure, but a shower nonetheless.

The Rising Tide worked almost entirely off sonics. It had water filters of course, but that was for drinking and other function. Some larger capital grade vessels had real showers, but such a thing was a luxury, not one that had been included on this ship. Aela didn't mind too much, she usually took cold showers anyway, but the feeling of water on bare skin was something that she had always enjoyed. Swimming was one of her favorite hobbies, though that was perhaps more to do with growing up on an island home.

She didn't hear Adder when she came in, the drone of the sonics being too loud.

The Drexl on the bed noticed her however, immediately raising itself up.

The creatures big, beady black eyes seemed to lock onto the woman, its green skin creasing slightly as it rose on the soft padding of the bed. The Drexl Larvae already had massively sharp teeth, long claws, and jutting spikes that seemed to shift as it stood on the bed. It observed Adder, not threatening her, but weary of the woman as it began to move closer to the bed. If Aela had been there, the creature likely wouldn't have even noticed the redhead.

 

[Adder]

Her mouth pulled into a tired smile as the creature stirred from its rest, fanged head rearing towards her as the tree eyes blinked back to the world of the waking. Well, at least someone was getting their dose of sleep.

"Did I wake you, boy?"

She had no earthly idea whether or not the little monster was actually a male, and she didn't think that it would appreciate any efforts on her part to find out. Not that she had plans to do so; she was perfectly content with petting its crested head, provided it didn't try to bite her hand off. Could always happen, especially if you had no clue as to the nature of the beast. Adder had spent most of her life in cities of various size, and the thought of encountering a wild animal such as this didn't seem all to appealing.

Sure, this one seemed tame enough, but who knew what they were like when they grew up? Already its talons and teeth dwarfed her fingers, and it only looked to be in its infant stages. It was the big eyes and the curious tilt of its head that gave away its youth, and despite of the threatening appearance, Adder was not deterred in her approach.

She kneeled in front of the bed and closed the final gap, reaching to scratch the unweaponized patches of hide between the horns protruding from its skull.


[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

The creature didn't move to bite, at least immediately. The Drexl was still young, and thanks to the calming effect that Aela had on it, as well as its early introduction to the Talith family, the creature was not as prone to violence as most Drexl were.

Of course the animals were wild in general. Drexl were apex predators, the biggest and strongest creatures on their world. Nothing hunted them, and nothing dared threatened them. Even Skreev cowered in the face of a Drexl. The massive winged beasts were known for their strength and external tolerance, capable of tearing apart even starships when assaulted by them. That wasn't why Aela had hers of course, she simply loved the creature. That was why it was here, that was why she had taken it. Her Oma Quietus had trained them, and Aela sought to do the same.

Of course this one was little more than a baby, and in a few weeks time it would dwarf Aela.

The Drexl let out an odd sort of growl, though by the half closing of its eyes and the odd stretch of its arms it was easy to tell that it was not threatening Adder, instead it was rather enjoying the mild touch between its thick scaled hide. At the same time as the Drexl growled, the low thrum of the sonic showers seemed to shut off, Aela's voice being heard as she questioned where she had left the scrunchy that normally pulled her hair into a neat braid.

 

[Adder]

Adder's lips pulled into a delighted little smile as the creature stretched out like a spoiled cat, a low sort of grumble emanating from its scaly throat as it did so. Carefully, the woman continued to scratch what seemed to be the beastie's sweet spot, forgetting the ache in her muscles for a few moments as the little monstrosity practically purred at her.

At least someone was having a good day, right?

Her hand froze mid-motion as the low drone in the background cut off, and Adder abruptly realized it wasn't the clattering of poorly installed grates. Damn assumption. Her blood went even colder, then, when a familiar voice echoed from the fresher behind her back, and the redhead didn't know whether to flee, or laugh, or just stand there mortified.

Just my karking luck.

Out of all the rooms she could've stumbled into, it just had to be the one belonging to her host. Great job, Adder. Karking brilliant.

The idea of getting the hell outta there seemed rather appealing, but as she jumped to her feet, the woman spied with dawning horror that her datapad had slipped out of her jacket and slid into the corner of the room. Must have happened when she fell.

Oh, for the love of…

That was it. The Universe was against her today. Tripping across the Galaxy in a mad chase after a slaver organization, the subsequent takedown of said organization, and now this. When did it end?

She gave out a tired sigh and gave into her fate, returning back to her crouch to resume the act of endearing herself to the creature that could probably bite her hand off on a whim if it so wished. And it wasn't even the closest to danger she'd come that day. Ah, it was not all fun and games in the life of a vigilante.


[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

Aela stepped out with a look of surprise on her face. "Oh."

She had sensed Adder, or rather she had sensed another person, she was a force user but not a very good one when it came to distinguishing people in the force. Truthfully, she probably could have guessed that it was Adder in the first place. Either way, she stepped into her room, a towel tucked around her body, her hair a wild blonde mess, and her eyes slightly open.

She observed the Drexl on the bed for a moment, her eyebrow arching as the creature growled in happiness. Ordinarily it wasn't so friendly to strangers, though recently Aela had been running around the ship clutching the creature so it would become more accustomed to being around people. It was the only way that she could keep the thing on the ship without herself being there. It was a necessity really, Aela couldn't have the Drexl run off killing people on her ship when it was an adult.

"Did you need something?" Aela asked, hardly noting that she was only in a towel. "Toothpaste?"

Everyone always forgot toothpaste.

 

[Adder]

"I…"

Adder felt heat rise to her cheeks as she tried to work up an excuse on the spot. She'd never been much of a liar, and knowing that the blonde was a Jedi didn't make things any easier. She could probably read her mind and figure it out right away. Jedi did that, right?

But then [member="Aela Talith"] spoke again, and the redhead snapped out of her hurried throughts with a sheepish grin plastered awkwardly over her face. it was tough looking at the girl and not looking at her state of undress at the same time, and Adder couldn't help but notice the defined lines of well-used muscles.

Damn that towel. It didn't cover nearly enough.

"Uhh, yeah. Toothpaste, right!"

But even as she said that, she felt the sting of guilt in the back of her throat, hot and damning.

Oh, kark you too. Not even a white lie?

"No. Wait. That's not… I was looking for the shared fresher you mentioned, and then I kind of leaned on the door thinking it was a wall and, uh… fell… in. And then there was this cute monster and—"

Abruptly, Adder cut herself off, face on fire as she took a deep breath. She was tired, mortified, and so far out of her depth she might as well have been in space. Which, incidentally, she was. Kark you, Universe.

"I'm sorry, I'm babbling. And leaving. Like, right now."

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

She perked her eyebrow.

"Drexl." Aela finally said. It was a rare creature, to be fair. Not many made it to Dxun, not many wanted to make it there, and even though Drexl migrated to Onderon every so often it was still rare to catch a glimpse of them even there. The Beast Riders mostly kept them contained, especially since the Republic had taken up in Iziz. Of course that was changed now and she expected the creatures would gain a bit more freedom again, or at least she hoped so.

She knew that her grandmother didn't like controlling the Drexl swarms, and not only because it was so difficult.

"She is a Drexl." The young Jedi Reiterated. "My sister and I took a clutch of eggs from Dxun. A tradition among the Beast Riders."

It was the only way to tame them. Hatching them and having them imprint, otherwise they were too difficult to control. Adult Drexl's required a fully trained beast master to actually influence with the force, and even then such a thing was more than difficult. The creatures had incredibly strong will, almost impossible to break. There was something about them, despite their fierce and deadly appearance that made them great companions. They were loyal to a fault, powerful, and of course, they could fly. That had always been her favorite thing about them, the fact that they could even breach atmospheres. The creatures were powerful, but not just because they could kill.

Aela liked that. "She won't be fully grown for months yet, then you can see what kind of Monster she'll be."

The words were said with a smile. Drexl didn't really become fearsome until they were adults, some growing to be nearly eighty meters in length. The creatures could terrorize entire cities given the chance, though the one upon Aela's bed would be doing no such thing. Not on her watch.

 

[Adder]

"Oh."

The redhead deflated in an instant, shoulders sagging as the adrenaline drained away again, leaving her feeling even more tired than she'd been earlier. For whatever reason, the blonde didn't seem to mind the fact that a stranger had stumbled into her room and found her near-naked. And touched her impossibly dangerous pet… Drexl. And half-lied.

Just kill me now.

The thought of passing out was incredibly appealing in that moment, and as [member="Aela Talith"] talked, Adder's green eyes drifted over to the bed beside her almost of their own volition, lids drooping with the weight of the day. She wasn't as young as she used to be, and she had no space-magic to call upon in those situations that required great exertion, only her own reserves. Today, she had tapped into them to the very bottom, or at least that's what it felt like as she nearly swayed on the spot.

She'd been drunk one too many times not to know when her knees were about to buckle, and so her arm shot out just in time to maintain her balance.

Of course, given her grand streak of luck today, her arm shot out to grab onto one of the horns of the Drexl. Because the Universe really hadn't spelled out 'kark you' in a sufficient number of ways yet.

Adder let out a long breath.

"Could I use your fresher?"

Well, at least she could be blunt. Silver lining, anyone?

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

She blinked for a moment. Her refresher wasn't really anything special, in fact it was actually smaller than the other one. The sonic shower was smaller and the other pieces were all a bit squished. It was the way that the ship had been made. She didn't really mind it though, mostly because fancy things had never really suited her, save for a dress or two that her mother had bought her. For a moment Aela simply considered the request, then walked over towards the bed.

The drexl looked rather concerned at this point, and Aela gave it a soothing scritch on the neck.

"Sure." She said as she slowly reached up and peeled Adder's finger away from the creatures horn. "Just don't get your hand bitten off."

The creature was still young, and it hadn't been fully...well acclimated to other people. Grasping it in the wrong way could lead to bad things, especially since Drexl larvae were strong enough to bite through most metals. Near full grown Drexl Larvae had once been used as siege engines in Onderons ancient warfare. The creatures were strong physically and imposing enough that it caused most people to break mentally. "She's not quite ready to accept most people yet."

Aela looked down at the Creature, which let out a slight growl.

 

[Adder]

Another small sigh of relief escaped her chest, and quickly Adder sought to cover her embarrassment up with a grateful nod. "I'll be quick," she hurried to add, yanking her hand away from the drexl almost too swiftly.

Thankfully, [member="Aela Talith"] was already cooing at the animal, sootihing its doubtless irritated mood. An apologetic grin flashed across her face, and she made a permanent mental note to never pet unsupervised drexl ever again.

Even if they were cute.

With that, Adder slipped away to the blissful isolation of the small fresher, leaning her back against the cool wall with a deep breath the moment the doors slid closed behind her.Why the kark was she so nervous? It wasn't like she hadn't been in much, much worse situations with people, including the blonde herself. In fact, she would wager that nearly anyone would prefer being in a room with a half naked woman than fighting their way through a slaver outpost with that same woman (though dressed appropriately, of course).

She would prefer it six days out of seven, for kark's sake.

Adder rubbed her forehead in frustration, remembering again that she was here for a reason. Hastening to fulfill her promise, the redhead quickly shed her clothes and stepped into the sonic shower, closing her eyes as the drone of technology washed over her.

It wasn't quite as satisfying as a proper shower, with water and all, but she was used to this too. Long nights of chases and stakeouts often meant going whole weeks without a shower, sonic or otherwise, and there came a point when Adder simply stopped caring about it. So long as she was at least moderately clean, somewhat fed, and adequately rested, life was good.

A few moments later, the woman was done with her routine, redressed, and stepped out into the room again.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

Aela in the meantime had managed to calm the creature.

The little Drexl had made its way from the bed over to a small corner of the room that very much looked to be a nest made out of clothes. The creature of course had sought some comfort, and the bed was too small to occupy both it, and Aela. It had been a necessity to build the creature a nest of sorts, something familiar that it would recognize and feel at home in. Had they been on Onderon, the larvae likely would have received an entire barn, though that was sadly not possible here.

Aela herself had dressed, albeit in a far less formal attire than she had been in earlier.

The day of questing and hunting down slavers was over, and soon they would be heading to Sullust. There was no need for formal clothing or armor, and it showed in the way that she dressed. A simple shirt and pair of pants that one might have worn on the way to the market.

She was supposed to have slept, but the reality struck her that she was not quite ready to do that yet. She had to coordinate the relief forces that were incoming and also get the Rising Tide towards its destination. There were others who could have done that, but she didn't feel right making them. Perhaps if Micah had been here it would've been a different story, her little brother knew full well what to do in this situation and he would have been invaluable right now...though she would never have said that to his face.

When Adder came ducking out of the refresher Aela looked up from the small Drexl. "Feeling better?"

it wasn't water, but at least it was cleansing.