Fantastic Beasts and Where to [Copyright]

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"All of the above." Aela said with a smile. "Except for the last one."

She shrugged. "Iziz and the Beast Riders don't really get along."

Or they traditionally hadn't. That had changed over the last few centuries of course. The Gulag Plague had caused the two groups to reconcile, and her grandmother had ensured that relations had pretty much stayed a steady course of peace. It was better that way, but the two groups still didn't really interact much, if only because...well they just had two entirely different cultures. That was what really stayed at the heart of it. The Beast Riders saw the people of Iziz as soft.

"They were at war for Centuries, though now there's just a general...separation." Aela glanced at Jamie.

"Difference in culture." She explained. "Sort of like the Gungan and Naboo."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"But the Gungan and Naboo are separated by a fundamental and biological species difference, not specifically because one group tames dangerous creatures while the other prefers the galactic standard of living."

They had also not gone to war with one another, even when tensions were high between the two. Relations now were growing steadily, Jamie even had a number of Gungans she would consider close friends. She had been to their cities many times, marveled at their wondrous underwater structures and technology. The girl had also taken a number of their officials on tours, both official and off the record, of Theed and neighboring major cities.

"I understand what you mean, though."

Jamie looked up as they drew nearer to the base of the mountain range, the tips of the peaks sealed off from visibility due to the low clouds raining snow down atop them.

"How far up do the Skreev nest?" She asked, wondering if they were going to freeze their behinds off that afternoon.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She gave Jamie a flat stare for a few seconds in response to her criticizing the analogy.

"Not far now." She pointed to the mountains. "We'll start seeing them any time now."

True enough, they were already floating above them in the skies. The Skreev were an interesting species to say the least, looking more like dragons than...well some dragons in the galaxy. She peered up at the mountains, as if trying to find a suitable place to go. "We'll have to get on the ridge."

She pointed.

"That way they won't see us coming." That was true enough. "Remember...these things are dangerous."

More so then the Boma or Cannoks.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

An hour or so up from the baseline began to thin away the trees, leaving mostly bare rock covered in a light dusting of white flakes that had been blow down from higher up the trail, a trail that didn't actually exist, but one that the two were making as they ascended the slope. Tracks became few and far between the higher they got, with areas becoming more difficult than previous to climb. It was as if the very terrain itself was warning the two to turn back.

Despite that, they continued up.

Another thirty minutes and Jamie could actually hear the flapping of a set of wings overhead, and the brief shadow of a Skreev as it passed the two, likely headed to its' nesting place a ways away from where the two currently were. The blonde froze in place for several moments, unsure as to whether or not they had garnered interest from the animal or if it had simply bypassed them without care. Thankfully it had been the latter, otherwise defending against something that large and predatory whilst balancing along jagged rocks may have been difficult.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"The first time I did this." Aela said as they scrambled up the tiny path, making sure there were enough footholds for them to actually make it up the rest of the way.

"Was right before the Great Migration." About a day before. "There were hundreds of them, all over these cliffs. They were Sitting, waiting, just looking at Onderon above as if they would know exactly when the right time to be."

It had been both beautiful and terrifying.

The Skreev hadn't even been interested in her and her Sister, instead they had simply looked up at the planet, watching and waiting. At the time she had been pretty sure that they could have wandered up to one of the creatures and actually punched it in the face before it noticed anything was wrong. That was silly of course, but it had certainly felt like it with the way that they had acted. "There."

She pointed to a cavern up ahead.

A slight rumbling noise escaped the cave as they neared it.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"How many times have you done this?"

Jamie hesitated for a moment at the sound, her left foot pausing mid-step, her eyes squinting as if to try and get a better insight into the darkness that engulfed the inner area of the cavern. The last thing she wanted to do was wander into a cave filled with these things.

"And about how territorial are these animals?"

The nervousness in her voice was rather obvious. Skreev were not small creatures by any stretch of the imagination. If they found themselves intruding where more than one had been resting and waiting, things might take a rather negative turn. This time was not as close to the migration as Aela had been, as was apparent by the lack of numbers.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela dragged herself up the cliff face, pulling herself onto a small ledge just above the path that they had been climbing on. A second later she reached down and grasped Jamie's wrist, helping her padawan scramble up the side of the cliff and onto the large. She looked back for a few moments, the entrance of the cave looming just a few meters away from where they sat. Slowly she stood up, taking one lightsaber from its place inside of the holster on her thigh.

Not many. "Three times."

"And Very." They really didn't like people wandering around to where they lived. That wasn't really something she could blame them for, after all who liked random people wandering into their home? Of course, not everyone would instantly lash out and try to bite, kill, and eat whatever had wandered in...but still. She frowned for a moment and then looked down at Jamie, trying to give her padawan a reassuring smile.

"Remeber." She said. "Let me go first and calm it down, then you try."

She took a breath, and quietly headed for the cave.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Okay. Sure." She nodded sheepishly. "I'll just wait here then."

Jamie leaned against the outer wall of the cave, waiting for Aela to either return with either an angry Skreev at her heels, or a reassurance that it was sort of safe to enter.

The Padawan couldn't help but worry that it might be the former of the two, rather than the latter. As she thought of that she was reminded of the deaf quiet that surrounded them now. No noisy insects or chirping birds could be heard this high up. The sound of silence was all that surrounded her. Any momentary noise roared through the air like a timeless echo, carrying along the wind for miles. That meant if she didn't want to attract any unwanted attention of more of these creatures that she'd have to remain more or less silent as well.

A difficult task for a girl who tended to fidget and speak to herself.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela took a tentative step towards the cave.

She could hear the rumbling of the Skreev within. She could sense its ferocity. The thing was eating. She frowned slightly as the sound of a loud crunch rang out from within the dark. Her lips thinned, but slowly she took another step forward. For a second she thought the creature might have heard her, but another echoing crunch was enough to dissuade her from that opinion. She moved forward slowly, stepping into the cave and extending her senses in the force.

Almost immediately she brushed up against the creatures mind.

Instantly it tried to lash out, but it was already too late.

For Aela this was a more practiced motion, It didn't take her the same amount of concentration as it did Jamie. Her mind lashed out almost instantly, not in a violent way, but in a swift strike of pacification. She blanketed the creatures thoughts with one single thought; Sleep.

The Skreev let out a shriek, then slowly began to sway. It's bloody maw opened, yawning, and then suddenly it collapsed onto the ground with a loud thud. For a second Aela didn't say anything, simply watched the now snoozing Skreev. "Jamie."

Aela called out to her padawan.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The screech the animal made from within the cave echoed like a thousand horrors to the outside, causing the blonde to flinch in response. For a moment there was nothing but silence.

Did the Skreev just eat Aela? She shifted towards the inside of the cave, waiting for any other sound to come, but there was only silence, then a crash of a body against the ground. A small vibration along the surface of the earth could be felt, before the softness of Aela's voice poured out shortly behind. To that end there was relief that the Jedi Master hadn't just become the next Skreev meal, but that feeling was then replaced by curiosity for what had just transpired.

"Yes?" The Padawan replied as she stepped forward ever so cautiously into the darkness of the cave to find the elder girl.

That was where she came to find the now sleeping Skreev. The woman had accomplished that impressively quickly. She was far better in tune with the minds of animals than Jamie, that much was obvious. "Wow." She said quietly, so not to wake the animal. "Impressive." She added.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Years or practice." Aela said simply. Putting the creature to sleep had been the easy part, now...well now she needed to wake it up. "The way to do this is a bit different than before. I'll wake it up, but you need to help me do it."

The Jedi Marshall began to explain as she motioned for Jamie to get away from the entrance of the cave.

She didn't want either of them standing in the creatures way incase they broke control of it and it decided to get away from them. It was better that they be at the back of the cavern, that way at the very least they wouldn't be thrown over the side of a cliff if the Skreev decided to freak out a bit. Notable, she kept the lightsaber in her hand, not putting the weapon away and deciding instead to keep it at the ready just in case something happened.

"We'll both be in control at first. Then slowly I'll take my touch away from it's mind." She explained as she moved around the creature.

"That way your touch won't be as foreign." Finally they reached the back of the cavern. "That will make it calmer."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The idea of being cornered in the back of the cave was far less ideal for her than being near the front. This meant if it lost it's calmness that it would have a much easier time killing and eating them than if they were near the edge of the cave and could make a run for it. It wasn't as if this animal was small. Even with Aela's saber ready, it could potentially gobble up one of them before that weapon could be of any real threat to it. She didn't like this plan, not at all.

That said, she still went along with the instruction. Aela had done this three times more than she, meaning that even if that was an uncomfortably low number, it was still three times as high as Jamie's. "Okay."

The very prospect of achieving this was so incredibly frightening that she had to focus on not trembling. She could again feel her heart rate dramatically increase as she stood a short distance away from both Aela and the Skreev. "Whenever you're ready, I guess." She wanted Aela to start the process, that way at least if something went wrong, it wouldn't immediately be her fault. Perhaps a bit selfish, but she didn't want that on her conscience.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela slowly sat herself down, legs crossed.

"Just follow my lead." She told Jamie. "Keep calm."

A breath filled her lungs. This was going to be...interesting. Aela was quite confident that she could take control of the Skreev easily enough, but when you added Jamie into the mix things got a little bit more complicated. The touch of two minds upon the poor creature could be enough to scare and confuse it...and when that happened it was liable to break from control. Still, they at the very least had to try, otherwise Jamie wouldn't be able to complete her training.

Another breath, and slowly she reached out with the force. "Start now."

Aela said as she began to slowly encapsulate the creature. For a second it's breathing fluctuated, a deep, grumbling guttural cough rushing through the Skreev as it woke itself up.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie knelt down beside Aela, her hands resting on her knees. Was keeping calm more difficult that influencing this animal? She honestly wasn't entirely certain. Keeping calm was a challenge all on its' own right then. This wasn't some small dopey lizard, or a moderately territorial alpha reptile. This was a huge, powerful, winged Skreev. The difference between this and the others were that the effort required in severely maiming both she and Aela was paltry for this creature.

"Okay." She finally nodded, allowing her mind and the Force to drift into the Skreev, alongside Aela's. Immediately the minid of the animal reeled back, the foreign invasion of not only Aela's trained Jedi mind, but Jamie's novice and relatively small influence. In the moment Jamie nearly relinquished the hold on it out of fear of terrorizing it more, but she knew that would more than likely lead to the animal lashing out once she had been purged. Instead she made her absolute best attempt to cast over it a calming sensation and mood, one that held no aggression or fear. It was difficult, and she was met with stark opposition, but she hoped that with Aela's help it would be by some measure, successful.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She tried to guide Jamie as much as possible, though the task was not an easy one. Skreev were by nature combative, and that trait ran through both their interactions in the physical world, as well as their minds. She frowned slightly as she slowly latched around the creatures mind, the Skreev pushing itself up from the ground and to its feet.

For a second, it did nothing.

Then it let out an ear shattering screech. In an instant she could feel panic rushing through Jamie, but Aela took her free hand and clutched her Apprentice's shoulder, looking at the girl for a moment and calming her before refocusing herself on the mind of the reptilian before her. A second passed, two, and then the Skreev seemed to back up slightly, it's wings scrunching behind its back as it passed looks from Aela to Jamie over and over again.

"Okay." The Marshall said quietly.

She looked up at the Skreev, it's odd eyes staring back at her.

"It's calm." Jamie would be able to feel that. "But scared."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Calm but scared. The feeling is incredibly mutual.

The blonde paused, nodding to Aela. Standing up, or at least partially standing up, given that the cave could not provide enough room for the Skreev to entirely stand, it was clear just how large these animals were. It was worthy of praise, had Jamie not been entirely petrified of what it could do at any given moment. The screech it had made only moments ago still ringing through her ears made hearing Aela far more difficult than before. Thankfully she had been able to read the Jedi's lips in tandem with hearing the muffled words to understand what was being said.

Having no real idea of how to make the creature less frightened of her, despite its' towering size over both Jedi, Jamie remained in place, her blue eyes looking up at the large Skreev as she attempted to pass over another wave of comfort, calmness, and tranquility.

If it failed, there was a good chance these would be her last moments on Dxun.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

The Skreev let out another screech, but this time, it was quiet, more subdued.

Aela smiled.

"Good." Her voice barely rang out in the cavern. She could feel the creature calm down a bit, it took a step backwards, it's wings unfurling just slightly as it began to sniff the air. Blood still pooled around it from whatever it had been eating, though the low rumble in it's throat was slowly ensuring that it dripped away and onto the floor. Aela stared at it for a few seconds, then slowly began to push it's mind a little bit more.

It sniffed the air again, and then took a step forward, towards the two girls. Calm began to flow over it as Jamie enforced her own will, and slowly a measure of...trust began to bloom within the Skreev.
Aela herself pulled back on her own touch, simply staying within the creatures mind to ensure a slight bit of control. The reptile shirked slightly as it took another step, lowering it's head in an almost subservient manner. It's great snout snaked towards Aela first, it's eyes wandering over the older woman as it smelled her, first getting used to her scent, and then attempting to identify it. Once it was finished the creature slowly moved it's head towards Jamie.

"Stay Calm." She told Jamie. "Think of it as a dog."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The only thing keeping Jamie calm was the very real understanding that if she slipped up or panicked that she, and likely Aela as well, were going to be in serious trouble. That fear was more pressing than the one of the Skreev drawing near, the blood covered maw approaching she and Aela's face as it became accustomed to their individual scents. The tremble on Jamie's lip was still there, but she didn't make a sound. Instead, she rested within the animal's mind, continuing to push the idea of soothing comfort and friendship with this great big animal.

Like a dog. A blood covered, carnivorous, huge dog. With wings Right.

"Uh huh." She mumbled in response.

A puff of air strong enough to blow back the girl's hair poured out of its' large nostrils, forcing Jamie to squint her eyes for a moment. It then leaned back, turned it's head to the mangled, largely unidentifiable corpse it had been devouring, and proceeded to lift it up and drop it in front of the two girls, seemingly in offering. The splash it made on the ground as crushed bone, organ, and splotches of blood rushed out was abhorrent, making Jamie nearly reel in disgust, despite her best attempts otherwise.

"Is it, offering us that to eat?" Oh gosh no. No thank you!

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Yep." Aela said as she drew back her control even further. "It can tell you're hungry."

That was one thing few people mentioned when beast mastery was talked about.

The connection worked two days, at least when done with the light side. It was part of the deal. Animal Friendship, as the technique was sometimes called quite literally meant forging a connection with the creature on a more...base level. You could sense them, control them, even trust them, and they could do the same with you. That was why certain creatures like Skreev became more docile when controlled, and why other creatures couldn't be controlled at all unless one raised them from birth.

That connection mattered. "Get closer."

She told Jamie. This was when her apprentice needed to shine, really take over. The Skreev was calm enough, and though Aela still had some control it was fast becoming the time when Jamie needed to show what she could do.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Don't even joke." She started. "I am not eating that." The very idea was repulsive.

She would get closer to the festering mess of blood and gust, but she was in no way about to dig her hands into it, or take any kind of bite, however big or small. She would rather die than that.

"Absolutely no way." She reiterated.

The Skreev looked almost proud of itself. Jamie smiled, pushing with it a feeling of delight and pride to the Skreev, even if she had no honest desire to indulge in any capacity what it believed to be providing.

Leaning its' great head down, the Skreev pushed the corpse closer to Jamie, the blood smearing along the floor of the cave as the cadaver slid. It was all she could do to not vomit.

Ugh...This can't get worse.

[member="Aela Talith"]