Quest For A Kaiburr (Gherron Vael & Zak Dymo)

[Nefertari Sovint]

It was a fact about Nefertari that only some people knew: She collects lightsabers.
The countess had heard rumors of one made with a kaiburr crystal, which had been most recently owned by the legendary Obi-Wan Kenobi and previously by his master. The rumors seemed like they had some substance to them, so Nef decided to follow them up. This lightsaber was supposedly still in Obi-Wan's hut on Tatooine. Nefertari asked her recently affionced love [member="Gherron Vael"] to accompany her. Naturally, he accepted.
Of course, Nefertari didn't dare leave him alone. He'd been growing more dangerously unstable as of late, and it seemed that Nef's love kept it somewhat under control.

Little did the Jedi Knight know that her padawan [member="Zak Dymo"] had overheard and stowed away with them.

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Gherron paced the ship slowly as it approached the sand planet, waiting impatiently to get back on the ground. Recently, Nefertari had shown to be worried for him, and for very good reason. Since being maimed by a Sith, the wound on his chest had only become worse and worse, and though he refused to show her, had begun to blacken. It was solid proof that he was being controlled by it. He only hoped that his anger spikes wouldn't drive him to hurt his love. That would kill him internally. But what could he do? He could feel it inside; he was going mad. Every now and then, his emotions would run rampant, leaving him either very paranoid, or irritable, or anything in between. Stopping his pacing, he sighed to himself and walked to the cockpit.

[member="Nefertari Sovint"] [member="Zak Dymo"]

 

[Micah tol Powl]

The young Nautolan's eyes fluttered open.

With a yawn, the child stretched his limbs and muscles. Then sighed as he relaxed. That had been a good nap. The question which remained was... Where was he?

This seemed a very basic question, to which the boy ought to have had a good answer.

Which, he didn't. Not a good answer anyway. And the bad answer would tend to implicate him so, on the advice of counsel, he was going to pee the fifth.

No, that last part didn't make any sense. Zak had no idea what it meant, but anytime there was a legal drama on HoloNet and someone got asked a question that they didn't want to answer because they were guilty, but they weren't supposed to say that they were guilty, they always talked about peeing the fifth. What pee had to do with the number five... he didn't know. Adults just talked that way.

And then complained that kids didn't make any sense.

Crawling out from the small maintenance hatch in which he'd stowed away, the little amphibian looked through the ship for some indication of where the refresher was. He'd had a Super Max FizzyGlub soda earlier, and now that he was waking up from a nap a bathroom was sounding like a really good idea.

Plus, maybe he'd find the galley. A sandwich sounded like a second-best-idea.

Did Master stock krill chips on this thing? The Nautolan wandered around the corner to try and find out.

---

[member="Gherron Vael"] [member="Nefertari Sovint"]

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

Nef sat in the cockpit, flying the borrowed craft into the atmosphere of Tatooine.
Gherron entered
"Hello my love, how are you feeling?"
She kept her eyes on where she was flying, but wanted to turn around and gaze upon the one she was to marry.
"Here we are, the Dune Sea. I'll find a place to set us down"

[member="Zak Dymo"]
[member="Gherron Vael"]

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Gherron stayed silent at first, staring out into the desert outside the viewing port. To be honest with himself, he actually felt slightly queasy, but he decided to hide it. "I'm good. Feeling a little better. What about you?" He sat down, hoping that turning the conversation her way would keep Nef off of thinking too much about his condition. For a moment, he thought he felt another presence nearby, but it was faint to him in his throbbing head, and he pushed it aside, figuring it to be his imagination. Taking a breath, he tried to get a better bearing on things. It wouldn't do them any good if he doubled over in pain when they were out and looking for the lightsaber.

[member="Nefertari Sovint"]

 

[Micah tol Powl]

The sound of a toilet flushing could be heard, echoing faintly through the pipes and waste storage system recessed into the internals of the ship.

Standing on his tip-toes, the young amphibian worked at the sink in the small refresher, washing his hands in the sink. He emerged from out of the refresher a moment later, wiping his hands on the dark, sleevesless tunic he wore. Stretching, the green-skinned youngling seemed perfectly relaxed, in spite of being a fugitive from justice... teachers... and the Galactic Basic Standard quiz that he was supposed to have been taking in class today.

Instead, he was in an unfamiliar ship. In an unfamiliar place. In an unfamiliar part of the galaxy.

To some younglings, the fear of the unknown and the slight smell of waste oil leaking from out the seals of some after-market starship parts market would have been the epitome of stranger danger.

To Zak, it smelled like freedom.

Now, where was that autochef?

---

[member="Gherron Vael"] [member="Nefertari Sovint"]

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

Nefertari touched down just at the edge of the Dune Sea. After breaking her focus from piloting, she could definitely sense a presence other than her own or Gherron's.

She kissed her love gently before leaving the cockpit.
"Alright Zak, where are you?" she called "We're just about to leave the ship!"

Nef re-entered the cockpit and grabbed a couple maps.
"It seems as though my padawan stowed away with us. Looks like we can't get too romantic" Nefertari joked

A transmission came through
"Lady Nefertari, Lord Gherron, I'm afraid Youngling Dymo is nowhere to be found inside the temple walls. Dost thou wish me to go in search of him?"

Nef replied
"No, it's okay 3DO. The little tyke snuck aboard, he will be fine with us"

"Very well, m'lady"

The transmission ended. Nef was still amused that her droid had started using the noble form of address with Gherron even though he and Nef weren't married yet. This showed on her face.
"Shall we, love?"




[member="Gherron Vael"]
[member="Zak Dymo"]

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Gherron relished the feel of Nef's lips on his own for a moment, before she left for the back of the ship, calling out her padawan's name. So it hadn't been his imagination after all. Sitting in his seat, he breathed steadily, keeping his mind in check. When his love returned to the cockpit, he smiled slightly at the joke she made, and started to get up when she spoke of leaving the ship. Grasping his saber, he clipped it onto his belt and threw his cloak on, then looked around for the stowaway. "Where is he, anyway? He made his way to the door and opened it, breathing in the stale, dry desert air. It had been a while since he'd last been to the planet, and he'd almost forgotten about the sand storms that frequented the surface. Walking back in, he grabbed a roll of cloth that he could use as a face mask and stuffed it in one of his pockets.

[member="Nefertari Sovint"] [member="Zak Dymo"]

 

[Micah tol Powl]

"Alright Zak, where are you?"

The young Nautolan looked up at the sound of his name. As he did, a series of strings formed an intricate web of cheese between his mouth and the remaining half of a hot Gorba melt that was in his hands. They were leaving the ship? Seriously? But he'd just found the autochef!

"Mmmumming," the youngling managed through the mouthful of food. Grabbing a snack pack of freeze-dried meiloorun slices, the green-skinned child stuffed those into a pocket before reaching into the autochef to snag a can of fizzyglub. Wedging the soda underneath his arm, the amphibian continued eating the turnover in his hands as he moved to join the other two Jedi at the ramp that would exit out of the ship.

The hot air hit him even before he'd reached the top of the ramp. Shielding his eyes, the barefoot child cautiously made his way down as he peered out onto a sea of sand and... more sand. "It's like an endless beach!" the boy chirped, awed by the sight of a planet, the likes of which he'd never seen before.

It was the total opposite of Glee Anselm.

"Where are we?"

[member="Gherron Vael"] [member="Nefertari Sovint"]​

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

Nef heard the Nautolan mumble as he came closer and joined her and Gherron.

"It's like an endless beach!"
"Indeed it is. However, there is no water"
"Where are we?"
"This is the Dune Sea. Welcome to Tatooine."
Nef showed the map to the others
"We are about here" she said, gesturing to a point "Looks as though we had better get moving. Master Kenobi's dwelling, or whatever is left of it should be a few miles northwest of here. Keep an eye out for tusken raiders."



[member="Zak Dymo"], [member="Gherron Vael"]

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

When the small padawan waddled out with his face stuffed full of food, Gherron couldn't help but to smile. It was adorable, really. His comment about Tatooine being an endless beach tickled him further, and he chuckled with a shake of his head. Looking out over the dunes, he peered as far as he could for any potential threat. Tuskens were widely known across the planet for their savagery and brutality. Even though they didn't always seem like that big of a threat, especially to a force user, they often traveled in numbers and always had something up their sleeve. Besides, if memory serves him right, one had become a Jedi at some point in history. The force could in fact be in some of them. Blinking a few times, he turned back to the other two Jedi. Had he spaced out again? How many times had that happened? Sighing to himself, he waited patiently for them to be ready.

[member="Nefertari Sovint"] [member="Zak Dymo"]

 

[Micah tol Powl]

Popping the last of the Gorba melt into his mouth, the green-skinned youngling just nodded in acknowledgment of his master's words about this planet.

Tatooine, huh?

Wiping his hands off on the front of his tunic, the boy pulled the can of Fizzyglug out from under his arm and popped the top. Taking the sweet, citrus-flavored soda straight to the head, the youngling leaned back as he took a long drink from the cold beverage. Gulping down the beverage, the boy straightened back up as he lowered the cold container back down and let out a sigh of contentment at being full.

Then he burped loudly.

"'scuse me," the small Nautolan managed, in between fits of giggles in amusement. Hopping down from the boarding ramp, the boy landed shin-deep into the rolling sands of the desert planet.

Throwing one arm forward, the boy playfully chimed, "Forward!"

Raising one foot high, the child seemed ready to march out upon the sands.

Then he spun around to look back at Nefertari as he asked, "...where we goin' anyway?"

[member="Gherron Vael"] [member="Nefertari Sovint"]​

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

"...where we goin' anyway?" The little Nautolan asked
Nef giggled at the fact that her padawan had gotten so excited that he didn't pay attention
"We are en route to Master Obi-wan Kenobi's hut...or whatever is left of it. You remember who Master Kenobi is, right Zak?"
Nefertari guessed that her padawan probably didn't since he barely paid attention outside of their training sessions


[member="Zak Dymo"], [member="Gherron Vael"]

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

(bump)

[member="Zak Dymo"], [member="Gherron Vael"]

 

[Micah tol Powl]

At the question, the small youngling threw up his hands in exaggerated exasperation.

Seriously, he was like the most awesome padawan of all time. She should be honored to be his master, not giving him pop quizzes on random trivia.

...this wouldn't be graded later, would it?

"Maaaaaaaaster," the boy whined. It was clear from both the look on his face and his tone that she'd just made some major faux pas in the whole padawan-master relationship.

One: This was Tattooine, not the classroom. So the whole history thing just now? Soooooo not appropriate.

Two: Zak knew everything about anything worth knowing. And he didn't know who Kenobi was. So whatever random Jedi dude whose name she'd just pulled out of the air was obviously not important. Anymore. Maybe a hundred ba-jillion years ago or whatever, because the Republic and Jedi were, like, totally that old.

"I sooooo know about Master Kenobi," the child lied, in the same pejorative tone. Stamping his foot in the sand, the boy crossed his arms across his chest and turned his head. He was pouting now, but it was just to stall for time with which to come up with something to say to try and get out of this sarlaac he'd fallen into.

"He was a Jedi, right?"

See. Totally knew what he was talking about.

[member="Nefertari Sovint"] [member="Gherron Vael"]​

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

"Zak" Nefertari began firmly "There is no reason to be whining at this time."
After calming the little Nautolan by singing a sweet, soft tune, she answered his question as the party of three trudged through the sand while the two suns blazed overhead. "That is correct by the way, Master Kenobi was a Jedi. And a jolly good one at that. The last planet he resided on was this one."
The lady looked around, checked the map, and took a drink from a waterskin.
"It's as though nothing changed" Nef remarked. She had lived on Tatooine for a few years before that fateful day where some duke's son had ditched her on Taris. It was there that she had met Jaissh and the rest of the party who had gone after Darwyn. Perhaps she would tell Gherron and Zak all about it someday. They were truly her favorite friends to be around.

Nef could feel the presence of something right near their intended destination. Normally she wouldn't give it a second thought, but this thing was BIG



[member="Zak Dymo"], [member="Gherron Vael"]

 

[Micah tol Powl]

Seriously, it was always time for whining.

Bed time? Yep, time for whining. Told to do homework? Yep, more whining. Salad day in the cafeteria? So much whining.

"What... what kind of Jedi was he?" the Nautolan asked, as the trio made their way across the dunes. Which, Zak was used to the feel of hot sand on his feet, but this just seemed strange for their to be this much sand without an ocean nearby. "Was, like, Master Kenobi... was he a Jedi Guardian?"

As the Jedi Guardian's self-declared biggest fan, the small amphibian wanted everyone to be a Jedi Guardian. Including himself.

Still another question came to the boy's mind, without really waiting for any of his earlier questions to be answered. "Why... why would a Jedi live here?" the child asked, strangely curious about a topic that ordinarily would be the furthest from his mind. "There's... there's not, like, a... uh..." he began, struggling to find the right word for what he was trying to express. All the Jedi he knew lived on Ossus, or the Jedi Enclave on Yavin IV, or the temple on Voss. All of which were places that were strong with the Force.

"...I don't feel a lot of the Force here, like on Ossus," the boy said finally, doing his best to express what he was trying to say.

[member="Nefertari Sovint"] [member="Gherron Vael"]​

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

"No, you wouldn't. Ossus is like a gold mine of the force, while Tatooine...at least the cities...are hives of utter scum and the lowest of villains." Nefertari remarked at her padawan's observation "The mechanics do excellent work though" she said, flexing her cybernetic

"Hmm..I don't know about Master Kenobi, but Gherron here is probably the best Guardian in the order." Zak had a thing for Jedi Guardians, and had said that he needed a masculine influence when the council had assigned him to Nef. Gherron was, by that logic, a perfect combination of the two.

"I think we are getting close...something is nearby...something huge"


[member="Zak Dymo"], [member="Gherron Vael"]

 

[Micah tol Powl]

The small Nautolan skipped across the sands.

"A... a Guardian!? Really?" the boy chirped, his head-tails whipping through the air as the child turned large eyes up at the man with a whole new sense of adoration.

A Jedi Guardian was the most astral of astral things. To be a Guardian was to be cool, but not just cool. To be cool and awesome.

And legend. Jedi Guardians were legendary cool.

Of course, Zak was in a committed relationship with his master, who had imparted him no small amount of knowledge in their time together. So there was no way that Zak would ever...

"Do you need a padawan?"

He didn't even think twice about it.

...or even think first about it either, for that matter.

"Please, pleeeeeeeease say you need a padawan," the youngling begged, his whole attention now invested upon the only Jedi who mattered in this group.

Was what's-her-name even still here?

She was, and she was talking about something being... big, or large, or whatever. None of which was important.

What was important?

Zak wanted to know how many Forms that Gherron knew. Oh, and what about Jar'kai? Oh, oh... and Trekata! Or was he more of a Teras Kasi guy?

[member="Nefertari Sovint"] [member="Gherron Vael"]​

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

"A... a Guardian!? Really?" the boy chirped
Nef nodded "Not to mention the cutest one"
Whether Zak had heard her comment or not, the little guy's master couldn't tell.

"Do you need a padawan?"
Whoa. Should have seen that coming
"Please, pleeeeeeeease say you need a padawan,"
"That eager to be rid of me, are you Zak? Gherron as your master would in no way mean not seeing me."
Had Nefertari told Zak that she was in fact marrying the Jedi Guardian he so spontaneously adored? Now that she thought about it, she hadn't. Nef had even put off getting Zak's measurements so she could get the Nautolan something formal.

The sunlight bounced off of something into Nef's face
Ouch, dang it
Looking off into the distance, the Jedi could see multiple shiny objects among the rubble of what had been a dwelling at some point in time.


[member="Zak Dymo"], [member="Gherron Vael"]