Cheers, bud.

[Loske Treicolt]

"If this is a fat joke, so help me.." Loske muttered in response to [member="Isar Kislo"]'s suggestion of something big being perturbed. Also, how did he know that? How did these Force Users know just about everything right before it happened?

"Are you chickening out, now?" Not ale to qualify if Isar's detection was fact or statement, Loske drinkily chalked it up to fear of the dark.

One eye at a time lazily blinked open, a respectively small nose picking up on a unique scent. The minerals on Sullust were mostly volcanic, so when something more crystalized entered the nostrils of the creature its curiosities for such a delicacy peaked. The creature rose, front legs forward for an elongated stretch (for it had just arisen from slumber) and it waved backward and forward until it had righted itself in the large cavernous room. Prowling forward, it was surprisingly quiet.

​

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

Kiskla had made a lot of decisions in her life, it was par for the course. Marrying [member="Marcello Matteo"] was certainly the best one. Actually - check that - kissing him back on Mandalore was the best decision she'd made.

When he embraced her, she leaned back into him, allowing his words to carry the weight she was seeking and when he turned her around to be more serious and resolving she continued with an appreciative ear. She supposed there was a rightness to his suggestion; they'd already been prescribed and engineered, the best parenting they could do would be not to hover or make any further choices on behalf of their semi-spawn.

The couple had left the siblings with affirmation that they were willing to do whatever the kids wanted in terms of involvement.

"I suppose you're right," Kiskla sighed heavily and squeezed her husband's hand in return. Her fear of letting them down was understated, and the moment she saw the pair the reality that other parts of the two Jedi Masters became a reality. Something within her triggered. "Maybe we should get a puppy."

 

[Isar Kislo]

Isar offered no response to Loske's quips. His attention was focused further down the cavern, still pushing his own presence as far forward as possible. With a firm grip remaining on Loske's arm, Isar moved into more definitive motion. That is to say, he firmly pulled his leggy sister behind him.

The female blonde's arm was released mere moments before he retrieved the hilt of his lightsaber. The dark blue blade erupted with a snap-hiss, bathing the walls of the cavern in an eerie glow. Isar figured his lack of a response was the best response he could give to his sister.

Talk about a sobering reality.

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Marcello Matteo]

Marcello maintained his seated position, gazing up at Kiskla with a thin smile. A puppy... With Marcello's luck, Kiskla would want some tiny, rodent-looking thing. Though in truth, what little Marcello knew of dogs was that...there was a huge variety. In fact a large majority of that were humongous, grotesque looking creatures.

"Maybe..."

The Rogue Jedi abruptly came to his feet, seizing the diminutive waist of his partner in the process. In the same fluid movement, Marcello hoisted Kiskla's body into the air before throwing her on the bed behind him. Hovering his body just over hers, the large Jedi leaned forward, locks of golden blonde hair framing both their faces as he gently leaned in to give her a passionate kiss on the lips. It was...several moments before he bothered to break the embrace.

"...you need a vacation." A single finger traced the curves of the left side of his wife's body. "Immediately."

[member="Kiskla Grayson-Matteo"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

"Hey!" Loske blinked unhappily at the charge [member="Isar Kislo"] was taking. She yanked her arm free of his grip with a heavy frown. He may have been more sober than her, but she was still a little stumbly and drinky. Which she was...currently regretting considering the mood shift.

Her eyes widened at the activation of the lightsabre; she'd never been in such close proximity to an activated one before. It almost had the smell of something hot.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Nevertheless, with his senses heightened she hovered her own hand above her blaster, just in case.

A sharp inhale heightened the Rockrender's senses. It's course tongue ran along the roof of its mouth, the scent of something crystalized more intense than anything it had ever had the opportunity to taste on Sullust before. It was mesmerized, the muscles of the beast imbued with desire to consume whatever the root of that intoxicating scent was.

Thunderous sounds echoed from the pads of its large feet as it increased its speed to the mouth of the cave; delighted to see an indicative highlight of what-would-be-blue-colour (it sucked being colour blind). Hungrily, it roared and stretched out a long, curved claw that would feel much like the edge of a cliff, toward the brilliant stick of light.

 

[Isar Kislo]

Loske asked a great question. The answer that he did not give was, of course, no. There was never any way to be sure if deploying a weapon was a good idea. However, what Isar did know unequivocally was that action would beat reaction every day of the week.

Danger senses flared abruptly just before the thunderous steps of something very large could not only be heard but felt in the earth. Vibrations from the ground quickly traveled up Isar's legs. Lowering his stance, he intoned a loud command to his sister. "Move to the side!" Whatever it was, it charged at the duo rapidly and Isar was not convinced it could or would stop when it reached them.

As the Rockrender quickly came into view and swiped at them with a large claw, Isar allowed the Force to show him visions, snippets of the future. He saw the beast's intent before it had time to put it to action. The resultant effect was that Isar simply looked like he had hyperactive reflexes. Leaping over the extended arm, Isar twisted his body in the air and sliced at the arm with his lightsaber as he began falling back to the ground on the opposite side of the Rockrender.

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

[SIZE=11pt]Panic hit her in the chest, and she cast a wide eyed glance toward her brother as tremors stretched up through her knees, hips and eventually her face. There was a silence in her mind, as if she were underwater, a faint sound forming words in the background, between the audio waves[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]...the side. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]She blinked. That voice sounded distinctly like [member="Isar Kislo"] in her head. “What did you -- “[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The voice came through more clearly this time, cutting above the sound of the rumble and general chaotic sounds of a creature charging at them. “Move to the side!” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Loske was already diving in the opposite direction, turning to slam her back against the wall rather than her face and swiftly liberating her blaster from it’s holster on her hip. Safety disengaged, she pointed it upwards as the creature took a dangerous swipe at her brother, it’s huge orange body now very obvious in the space between the pair; not allowing much room on either side of it’s impressive body mass. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Her gut clenched and a silhouette on the otherwise was visible, almost through the dense matter of the Rockrenderer’s body. “[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]What?” [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]She whispered to herself only, squinting in disbelief. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]She didn’t have much time to assess, however, as her brother landed a successful swipe which only enraged the creature even more. [/SIZE]

A painful roar screeched through its throat and ricocheted throughout the cave’s walls. Angry now, not just hungry, it’s large tail whipped around, striking toward the person that wasn’t wiedling the delicious-smelling-stick-of-light.

[SIZE=11pt]With a yelp, Loske pressed herself even firmer against the wall, using it as momentum to dive [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]under [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]the tail as it whipped toward her. Angling on her back, her arms bracing themselves for the pushback of her blaster, she fired against the muscle of the tail and the armpit she was actively beneath. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Scrambling to not lay down for too long, she twisted to right herself, scurrying back out in front of the creature. [/SIZE]

 

[Isar Kislo]

Isar recovered quickly from his strike at the beast. Glacier-blue eyes immediately focused on the orange creature as it turned its own attention to his sister. The clone made a motion with his free hand, sensing the impending danger to his kin despite her own skill. With the Force, he managed to immobilize the creature's tail just long enough to aid in Loske's escape.

With Loske out in front of the creature, attempting to draw its attention, Isar rolled underneath. Stabbing upwards into the soft underbelly, Isar slashed hard, attempting to open a large gash in its stomach. During the motion, Isar found himself practically seeing through Loske's eyes. It almost caused his footing to falter.

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Furious, the creature roared and backed up when its skin was pierced below. Its head pulled back, and stabbed downward with a single motion, attempting to use its beak-like structure to pierce the annoying creature holding the light stick. ​

[SIZE=11pt]Goop started to emerge from the slash above [member="Isar Kislo"], causing Loske to wince in front of the beast; under the impression something disgusting was about to drip on her. When nothing touched her, and she opened her eyes in time to see the creature’s intent to stab down on her brother, she grimaced. Its hide was thick, and it appeared a single blaster at this point wouldn’t help the situation. Instead, she [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]hoped [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]the angle of his blade would work for this, and fired several times toward it; the intent for her plasma to redirect off the more civilized weapon and continue to expose the wound or more of the creature’s sensitive underbelly, rather than the protected hide on top. [/SIZE]

It would be a painful hit, but she wasn't looking to kill it; just wound it enough to make it back up and stop its aggressive attacking.

"Get out from under there," Loske called, impressed at her enunciation and no slurring. She was seeing much clearer now; the adrenaline and shared vision helping with that. The creature was hungry, but it didn't seem to want to kill either of them; just get them out of the way so it could focus on other things.

"It's not trying to kill us.." her brows knotted in frustration at this information. Something inside her made her oddly calm in this situation -- it could have been because she was used to life and death situations, hence her salary, or it could have been the liquor. She wasn't sure, and chalked it up to somewhere between both.

Her eyes darted between all the active objects in the room. Her blaster, her brother's weapon, her brother, and the beast. The shape between all of them was tense, but the eyes of the creature were not on either of their flesh; even after they'd agitated it and pained it. It was focused on the lightsabre, but not with anger. It looked curious.

 

[Isar Kislo]

Isar saw Loske's intent and somehow could hear her thoughts clear as day in his mind. Glacier-blue eyes snapped to the form of his sister with an overwhelming surge of curiosity just as the blaster bolts were fired. Twisting his body rapidly and manipulating the bright weapon with a speed and precision that, to be honest, always surprised him as of late, Isar redirected the super-heated bolts of energy fired by his sister directly into the exposed area of the creatures belly.

"Get out from under there."

Isar felt in his mind more than he heard it with his own ears. For a moment he hesitated, seeing and feeling...compassion? Shaking his head, Isar prepared to tuck into a roll away from the large beak and feet of the creature.

"It's not trying to kill us."

"No, it's trying to kill me, Dr. Doolittle." Isar had no idea from where in his brain the reference had originated. Grumbling to himself, Isar elected to trust in his sister...slightly. For a moment, he deactivated his ligthsaber as he rolled out from under and away from the large beast. The moment he was back on his feet, the Jedi Knight erected an invisible protective barrier around him to aid in his...retreat? Yeah it was basically a retreat. The barrier would be largely invisible to the naked eye save the occasional distortion in lighting of the cavern.

"If you don't have a plan, I swear we're going to fight!" Isar yelled the message at his sister as he drew closer to her.

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

"If I don't have a plan, we probably won't have to.." Loske muttered in response to [member="Isar Kislo"]'s understandable aggression. He'd exposed her though, she didn't have a plan -- she just didn't want to keep stabbing this creature. They were the drunk ruffian intruders, this poor thing was just sleeping and it had been rudely awoken. Worst case scenario, they could both race back to the speeder and zip out of the Rockrenderer's clutches.

"Can you put a grip on this thing? Like a force one, to slow it down a bit?"

She was definitely making this up as the went. As she spoke, she slowly indicated with large gestures that she was re-holstering her blaster.

 

[Isar Kislo]

There wasn't really time to reply to [member="Loske Matson"]'s quip. In fact in that very moment, Isar was thinking that a strategic withdrawal was not a half bad idea. The creature, after all, was not impeding them from accomplishing some larger objective. There was nothing in the cavern for the two clones as far as they had any idea.

By the time Loske had already made the request for the Rockrender's movement to be arrested, Isar was already putting into action. Again...it was as if she had whispered her desire to him before ever speaking it aloud. For the briefest of moments, the Jedi Knight wondered if it was his senses heightening and expanding, or if something else was to blame.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of time to muse on the situation. The Rockrender was massive and angry, holding the beast in place was steadily training what stores of energy Isar had remaining after fighting to stave off the effects of alcohol earlier. "I think, perhaps, it's time to abandon this quest Loske." Isar grunted as the Rockrender was able to move several meters towards them before stopping again. "Three options. We leave, we die, or it dies. Now go."

Unless...Loske had something up her sleeve neither clone was aware of in that moment.

 

[Loske Treicolt]

"Ok, first option." Loske agreed, appreciating [member="Isar Kislo"] attempting to hold the creature in place while they made a backward withdrawal out the large mouth the the cave.

It was still very dark out, and she'd dropped the flashlight when the creature came stomping out at them. While Isar did his best to stay the beast, she darted ahead and muscle memory took over as she swung herself over the driver's side and started the vehicle up. It gave an indicative purr.

High heart rate. What happened? What's that roaring noise?

"Didn't let sleeping dogs lie.." Loske grit her teeth in response, pressing down on the pedal to curl up to the mouth of the cave to close the distance Isar would have had to run.

Frank saw now, inside the cave and nearing the opening after the other blonde experiment. If he was human, an incredulous look would have accompanied the question: Do you know what a dog looks like?

 

[Isar Kislo]

Isar waited just long enough for Loske to get a decent head start. That accomplished, he turn and began running quickly. To his credit, the Jedi Knight managed to maintain a nominal hold on the beast for at least the first few steps. The sound roaring and feel of the earth shifting beneath him were the only clues that Isar needed.

Digging down deep in the reserves of his strength, the experiment began moving even faster, his movements partially blurred. Reaching the mouth of the large cavern, Isar took two bounding steps to throw his body back into the night air. Isar's feet had touched the ground less than a couple seconds before he vaulted himself into the passenger seat of the speeder. "Drive!"

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

He didn't need to shout twice, by the time [member="Isar Kislo"]'s butt hit the seat, the repulsed lifers fully engaged and splattering loose rubble as they high tailed the turn. Outraged that the yummy delicacy was escaping, the wounded Rockrenderer pursued the pair beyond the mouth of the cave.

The vehicle vibrated anxiously from the exertion the pilot was putting on the engine, the sole of her boot pressing against the floor as she shifted to the final available gear to help give them more distance from their follower.

After a handful of seconds, the indegenous rock creature realized mending itself was more a priority than tasting something new, and, exhaustedly, turned back to the cave.

Looking over her shoulder to confirm the retreat the rear view communicated, Loske started to relieve pressure and drop to a more comfortable speed; exhaling heavily. The end of her heavy breath took a turn into an astonished and almost breathless, dumbfounded laugh.

 

[Isar Kislo]

Isar glanced over his shoulder as Loske piloted the speeder rapidly out of the area. Once it was clear that they had begun opening on the creature, he returned his gaze forward and leaned back into the seat. For a moment, he allowed the cool breeze running through his hair to work some of the tension out of his body.

However, it was the sound of Loske's laugh that drew the Jedi back to the present. For a moment or two, Isar just stared at Loske in silence. Eventually, a thin smile did touch his lips. "Yeah. That's one way to spend an evening." Mild exhaustion started to ripple through Isar's body as his adrenaline levels returned to normal. "I'm definitely going to call it a night."

He wasn't really though, Isar would definitely spend at least a moderate amount of time attempting to research what that creature was, suddenly very unimpressed with his knowledge of the fauna on Sullust.

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Loske’s laughter subsided into a low titter and finally a gasp for air with a “What was that!”

The question was more about the situation, than the beast. She explained “I could hear you before you spoke. It was crazy! Is this clone communication?”

[member="Isar Kislo"]

 

[Isar Kislo]

Isar blinked as he looked at his sister. "Wait. You felt it too?" Until right that very second, Isar had merely written it off as his senses through the Force improving. "I could basically see through your eyes." There was also the fact that he'd effectively known everything happening to her or that she was going to do before she did it. However, that certainly could have been attributed to the Force.

"It has a name... Clone communication isn't right." Falling silent for a moment, Isar reiterated a statement aloud that he'd made to himself. "I need to get to the Temple."

[member="Loske Matson"]