Fragile Instinct

[Rosalina]

Vaal

In many ways, Vaal reminded Alm of her home. While half of Manas was arid desert, the young woman was fortunate enough to have been born in the more fertile mountain region. The mountains weren’t very treacherous and the Nasvalo who lived before them had tread the same safe paths for thousands of years. They herded and hunted animals, gathered wild vegetables and fruits and traded for grains when they circled back to meet with the tribes that inhabited the plains. Life was good and so it remained largely untouched and unchanged for so long.

When settlers came, her people had much opposite to the change they tried to bring. Those living in the resource scarce desert welcomed technological advancement and rapidly built cities across the harsh expanse of desert. It was in the planet’s capital city, Sel, where Alm had first encountered modern technology. Like any teenager, she was fascinated and her Force sensitivity bought her a literal ticket off world and into the coven of the Sith where she was to be trained and tempered alongside other Acolytes.

Vaal sat comfortable between the territory of the Sith Empire and the Silver Jedi and was particularly easy to get clearance onto. Here, Alm could pretend she was at home for a moment longer and tap into her instincts.

Now, she sat crouched in a swath of low-cut bushes while observing a group of Hyenax. Vicious creatures but there were only a few—they’d broken off from the main pack several hours ago, two were sickly and one was a runt. They couldn’t keep up with the stronger of their brethren and instead of taking care of them, they’d been left behind so as to not slow the rest of the pack down. A lesson of nature if she’d ever seen one, and she’d seen them quite a lot growing up.

She crouched, curved blade in hand as she shifted her feet carefully to the right, then forward. The runt lifted his head, ears perking in her direction and one paw lingering above the ground as if to change directions. Alm leapt from her cover, catching the beast in the throat with her blade in one quick, decisive movement. Hesitation had been forced out of her at an early age. Hesitation meant death.

[member="Rhane Varless"]

 

[Rhane Varless]

[member="Alm"]

A cool breeze swept over Rhane Varless. Vaal was warm, even somewhat arid at times, so he savored and appreciated every wisp of cool air. He was on the planet searching for locations for a personal fortress. The planet seemed calm and relatively uneventful, but it wasn't located in Silver Jedi territory. He had left the SJO territory, with the condition that if he was to build outside it would have to be on a Force Nexus. In his limited travel on the planet, he had found no such Nexus large enough. Giving up hope, Rhane was returning to his Interceptor, which was located at the nearest port, when he was faced with crossing a dense bushy terrain.

The bushes creaked, cracked, and shivered under his thunderous weight, making it very easy to hear him coming. He was paying so much attention to the port on the horizon, he failed to notice 3 large doglike creatures slowly making their way along. The 3 creatures suddenly stopped and one of them raised it's head. Seemingly out of nowhere, a nimble woman leapt from somewhere beneath the bushes and pounced on the Hyenax. The remaining two scattered as quickly as they could.

Rhane approached the woman boldly, to him she appeared as a native simply hunting food, she certainly had the abilities of one. He was no more than 20 feet away when he spoke up.

''Hello! Need help carrying that?'' his voice was deep and thunderous, seemingly shaking the ground the two of them stood on. He stood there and awaited the woman's response.

 

[Rosalina]

Alm felt the presence of another the moment before he spoke, head whipping around as she grasped the dying beast by the throat. The neck snapped instantly with a muted crunch under her strength and she dropped the body, frowning with a mix of suspicion over the newcomer and disdain for the scattered creatures.

He did not appear to be a native of this world, moreover he was unlike anything Alm had ever seen. She was aware of the presence of alien races but had spent her entire life up until now surrounded by tall, tan near-humans. This four armed lizard-like man was certainly a novelty. The only familiar part of him was the tunic he wore, the type you’d see on a Jedi.

Jedi. She had yet to meet any but have been told stories of how good and righteous they thought they were. “No.” She answered quickly, standing to her full height and eyeing him. She was not trying to be impolite but was clearly weary.

“Who are you?”

[member="Rhane Varless"]