Private Plenty of What Ifs

[Nouqai Veil]

Location: Felucian Jungle
Age: 13 y/o

The kids had been dropped of here, left with little aside from some basic survival and camping equipment. There were tracking bands on their wrists just for emergencies. It was no surprise she had paired up with her best friend Balun for this trip. The children were to embark on a small mission to survive three days out in the Felucian Jungle. After much survival theory lessons, this was the practical test.

Nouqai began setting up their tents on higher ground, incase of rainfall and floods. The amphibious sentient's nose and skin could track water easily, and as far as she could tell, there was at a distance, she did not know how big of a body of water it was, but they would find out soon. They had arrive in the late of afternoon, it was not long before the sunset and they were left to darkness. "We should find some food, Balun Dashiell ."

 

[Balun Dashiell]

Four years ago, on the planet of Felucia.
Nouqai Veil .

They had set up camp, two tents and a fireplace for warmth should they be lucky enough to forgo the rains of the evening. Balun had even set up a rain catcher to funnel clean water into their canteen. He wore the traditional Jedi garb, tunic, leggings and a thick brown cloak draped from his shoulders as he moved to stand alongside his best friend, glancing back to where they would be calling home for the next three days.

"I haven't visited Felucia in a few years and only visited once. Kway Teow was different, though, and not like out here. From what I remember, a good few predators are known to Felucia, so we had better not let our guard down just in case," Balun answered, trying to recall what he had read about the world within the Temple Archives. Felucia was known to be home to some exotic flora and toxins, some of which Balun had wanted to study but only read about. Truth be told, he felt excited to be there and had volunteered the first chance he'd been given as he genuinely felt to be in his element out in the wilds of nature.

"The easiest food we'll find will be in the local plant life, but we must be careful. There's plenty out here that will be poisonous. I should be able to tell mostly by the colour and veins of the leaves, but if all else fails, we could hunt something?" He explained and concluded with an alternative suggestion.

For someone who was such a pacifist, Balun believed in hunting for survival. It was the nature of living beyond the safety of sentient-built cities, the way of the food chain. What nourishment could be found in the local fauna would be honoured with a clean and merciful kill if Balun had his way. And a private whisper of thanks relayed via the force back to the natural ebb and flow of energies that traversed the world around them.

 

[Nouqai Veil]

For the larger beasts, the younglings would seem like easy prey. Nouqai did not know if she could take on a large beast if they were attacked, but they stood better chances sticking together. Nouqai shook her head, "I can't digest plant stuff." She explained. How ever her biology worked, it would usually reject most fruits and vegetables. "But you can go ahead and forage for yourself. Although, be careful" She wouldn't want her friend to go hungry if there were plants around he could eat.

"There is a water body somewhere in that direction." Sniffing the air, she pointed. She sensed it was about a kilometre or two away. "I can maybe catch something there."

 

[Balun Dashiell]

"Oh, nah," Balun raised a hand dismissively. "It's cool. I'll go with you. We don't know the land, and if you can't eat vegetation, then I'd rather go with you," he explained. Balun hadn't realised Nouqai Veil couldn't eat vegetation. He seemed to take it for granted and had often assumed that she didn't like vegetables. He hadn't been paying enough attention to her eating habits over the years they had shared life in the Jedi Temple. "I do prefer meat, so it's cool. Sorry about that," he chuckled sheepishly in his apology. Balun knew Nouqai wouldn't see it as a big deal, but he still felt bad about it.

"I didn't bring a Blaster with me, mind you" Balun added, considering how they might proceed with the hunting of Felucia's wildlife; "Our lightsabers can definitely do the trick but if we're hunting together, I have a couple requests" he glanced back to Nouqai, pausing to gauge her reaction. Balun didn't often request this, but it came from his personal beliefs, and he also knew that Nouqai would respect his wish, given their friendship. "The kill has to be clean so that the animal doesn't suffer. And before we skin and gut it, let me honour its death by saying something".

 

[Nouqai Veil]

Nouqai nodded understandingly, not everyone required a unique carnivorous diet but it surprised her that he only realised that fact now, he must have thought her a very picky eater.

"We weren't allowed blasters." She reminded. The masters wouldn't trust the young teens to handle blasters without supervision just yet and this was a survival excursion. "I can do that." His request was reasonable, a quick death for their meal. "We should be back at camp before nightfall. " Nouqai led the way towards the body of water, it should take them perhaps an hour or so to get there and back, likely more time to secure a kill.

Although her light sensitive eyes ensured she would not go blind during the night, it was the time where the beast prowled, they would not want to get lost then. Balun Dashiell

 

[Balun Dashiell]

Unlike Nouqai Veil , Balun couldn't see in the dark. Instead, he had to make the best of his senses, including that of the Force, for guidance. He followed closely behind her as they walked through the tundra, taking care in every step so as not to tread upon something poisonous or volatile. He had only read about Felucia, but being there was entirely another experience.

"It would have been much easier if we could just shoot something," Balun muttered. Although this was a three-day survival lesson, the New Jedi Order had told them it would be a challenging test. "Felucia does have a lot of interesting flora, though, like the Kelerium Root. If we found some of that and got an animal to eat it, they'd wind up paralysed..." He spoke his thoughts aloud, this time enough so for his friend to hear him. Then again, Nouqai probably wouldn't like the idea of killing something while it was poisoned.

Despite the urgency of their situation, Balun couldn't help but admire their surroundings. The vibrant colours of the Felucian wilds were stunning, especially compared to the Jedi Temple. He felt free out here, and the Force felt peaceful. It felt natural compared to the congregation of the Light. Out here, everything was as it should be. Natural life, allowed to flourish without sentient intervention. The distant sounds of animal life, and the presence that flowed throughout the forest, the endless flora and the large yet alien trees. It was all so very stunning and beautiful. Balun couldn't help but smile to himself, feeling at peace with the wild world around them.