Private Savannah Talks

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Khoe Ghafara

Jonyna was always a bit of a wanderer. Maybe it was down to her tribal nature, but she loved to explore.

The Skytiger landed just on the edge of the endless savannah. The Great Plains were known pretty far and wide to her people, and a few tribes still called it home, the ancestral lands of the Cathar people.

Part of her wanted to visit the tribes as a sort of check-up. She had started doing these as the Denik Sage just to make sure the other local tribes weren't struggling. Today, it was the Lai Syaw tribe, the Cathar of the Fire Savannah. One that had burned down entirely by Mandalorian hands, but had regrown, and had become a symbol of rebirth in their culture.

"It'll be fine Dice. We'll be in and out in five minutes. I just need to meet with the Elder and give him a heads up about the monsoon season. This whole savannah is gonna become a flood plain if the feeling in the Force I'm getting is anything to go by."

The astromech let out a beeping concern, but Jonyna paused as they approached the village, made only of temporary huts and small teepees.

There was a jedi nearby. She could feel it.

Or at least....

Someone strong in the Light Side...

 

[Khoe Ghafara]

Cathar... A place Khoe couldn't exactly say they were very familiar with. Nevertheless, this is where they found themselves on their eternal soul searching quest. Thus far had been a rather pleasant experience. Meditating in Hra dom Zarzêa, Climbing in Ontebae Canyon stones throw from the worlds highest point and now she chartered north to Nioumaê choua a small picturesque spring, a perfect place to swim, paint and completely sperate ones self from the world around her. Beforehand though not but 50 clicks laid a small tribe she was told about by a local back in the Lokmi Wastes. Needing to for fuel for the speeder and fuel for the mind she found herself darting across the open plains at the breakneck highest speed her not so trusty speeder could carry her a song blasting over the comms she'd never heard before, Axxila pop; not really her thing, with the brown dot of a settlement just on the horizon.

With the small tribe approaching rapidly Khoe began to gear down only to notice her bike was gearing down half as fast as it should be, she gave it more pressure on her break petal on her Bobber with it only giving more resistance in return, it was slowing down but not fast enough to avoid a collision with one of the teepees, just before force jumping off she breathed in deep and as loud as she could muster with her solf voice Khoe yelled,

"HEY GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

The speeder tore through the front of the tent and as it hit the back the fabric got caught in the speeder began being dragged with the speeder as it travelled a good further 100 feet before coming to a halt with a "puht!"

"I am so sorry the speeder lost control"

She said running over to help up a Cathar woman who tucked and rolled to avoid the speeder, the woman swatted her hand away. Khoe instinctively looking at the carnage caused by her oh so beloved Bobber what looked like an entire inventory of a stall laid all over seeping into the grass by the wares liquid and glass remnants on the grass she assumed an apothecary of some kind. The woman replied in her native tongue a dialect she couldn't understand but the emotions of the group were crystal clear. She was now the talk of the town and not in the good way, these are a travelling people who probably reply on hunting and trade and she probably just destroyed months if not years of hard work ready to be sold or traded. Khoe awkward reached at her collar unsure how to proceed, she glanced over at her speeder in the distance wondering if she could outrun the locals to it if she'd need to make a speedy getaway especially if the locals she couldn't exactly understand turned truly hostile.

"I've already done enough I should probably just go..."

She thought to herself

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Khoe Ghafara

The sound of a speeder smashing into a teepee perked Jonyna's ears, and she ran over. <Hey!> She called out in their native tongue. <what's going on?>

<That maniac just ran through my house!> The woman called out, clearly still frazzled from dodging a speeder, pointing to the rogue jedi. <What kinda person does that?!>

<...alright Sister. I'll handle this.> Jonyna assumed the woman, using the Force to pick up what she could. Telekinesis did a good job at cleaning up the mess, now all that was left to deal with the perpetrator.

Jonyna walked over, smiling and offering the woman a hand up. "You're in a bit of trouble. Mind if we talk?"

 

[Khoe Ghafara]

"That brat ruined a whole batch of Nafmujeae!"

"Jonyna just in time! Teach that girl a lesson!"​

"Satri had been brewing that for weeks!"

The locals gawked, not that Khoe could understand a word of it if things turned sour she was completely prepared to book it but before the option she noticed that what little she hadn't destroyed began neatly organizing itself into piles on the ground, even the shards of glass and the remaining torn cloth of the tepee folded itself and gently fell to the ground which was cut by a shrill voice from behind her offering her a hand Khoe turned around and couldn't help but have her expression drop no matter how much she attempted to keep her composure, she didn't take the Jedi's offer at a hand.

"You know I probably should of figured I'd run into you here."

Khoe stood her ground resting her hand on her saber not in a threatening way but more of a "I'm one of you". She had heard at the enclave on thustra a a month or so back a Cathar Master by the name of Jonyna Si was given a seat on the council and that she'd drop by frequently whilst heading home to Cathar, she recognized the name only through passing mentions by her master but did recognize the Jedi standing in front of her seeing her whilst wandering the halls on Coruscant though never interacting a year or so ago, with this she connected the dots.

Khoe had this nagging feeling this whole trip she'd meet this new high council member but had taken every precaution to not do so, she'd learned where the master frequently and basically travelled in a radius around it, but you see Khoe forgot the force has this funny way of kicking everybody in the ass so them nearly crashing into each other was now fate and now Khoe was kicking herself in the ass.

"Khoe, Khoe Ghafara"

"Master Hanru's old Padawan, don't think we ever actually met"

She feigned interest

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Khoe Ghafara

Jonyna paused, looking to the others. <I'll replace your Nafmujeae. Ran Dom Kuun can spare some for the season. Leave this to me, brothers and sisters.>

She looked back to the knight, offering a warm smile. "Come with me. Let's get away from the village and talk, please."

Jonyna knew this could get ugly if they didn't remove themselves. Tribes like this often didn't see outsiders more than once a year, and were often very skeptical of them. Jonyna would offer herself as a mediator, but she needed to first remove the problem from the damage done.

 

[Khoe Ghafara]

Khoe's attention glances at Jonyna than her eyes roll towards her speeder bike in the distance sitting idle than back at Jonyna than back at the bike than back at Jonyna

"Can IIIIIII go get my bike first?"

She sheepishly and awkwardly points to the horizon.

"Or should we do a fly by and I grab it on the way out?" She whispers

Khoe felt very out of her depth hand frankly completely utterly embarrassed, doing something this stupid in front of a whole village is one thing but in front of a high council member?

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Khoe Ghafara

"We can grab it on the way back." Jonyna said gently. She didn't want this new jedi to just book it, but she also didn't want to leave the bike.

Leading the two of them away from the village, Jonyna looked to the woman with a calm look. "I like your hair. Braids like that can't be easy." She opened, offering a soft smile. "What'cha doin' on Cathar, stranger?"

 

[Hugot Tyvek VII]

Khoe tried carefully not to roll her eyes as she followed the Jedi, whether or not she was successful remains to be seen. You wouldn't have to be a Jedi youngling to sense the unease on Khoe's mind though whether she'd care to admit it or not her small talk did perhaps create a slight crack in their armour.

"Thanks, believe it or not Hanru taught me how to do it, he was voted best hair in the order back in 888. I had messy hair as a kid and nobody at the temple taught me how to properly maintain it so I usually just had a buzz, but he could tell I didn't like my short hair so he spent few months early on learning everything about my hair type and how to take care of it."

As she spoke she instinctively fiddle with one of her braids.

"Got to much of my master in my I suppose, meditating, exploring, helping locals although clearly not the last one here, basically just avoiding temple duty and the alliance as whole." she confessed, looking Jonyna up and down analysing her, "Pretty sure that's the only reason any Jedi comes to the outer rim"

Khoe looked up towards Jonyna's ship she hadn't gotten a really good look at it. The hull had seen better days and the whole ship had clearly been well used

"You fly an X-Wing? You're braver than I. They control like a Gugverm on Slick."

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Khoe Ghafara

"It's home for me." Jonyna smiled. "And you'd be surprised. My predecesor has a small sect of jedi working for the Tingle Arm Coalition. Wayseekers who want to fight back against the Imperials." She offered. "My last boyfriend was one of those. He's off somewhere now doing jedi work all over the galaxy."

Jonyna looked at her ship, chuckling at it's own scars. She really did need to give it a bit of TLC. "Less fly, more...direct. My astromech does most of the actual flying."

Behind the ship, an old D1, somehow older than anyone in the order currently, worked on the side of the ship. "He's a keeper. Got him from an old jedi knight back in the day. Well...her ghost." Jonyna chuckled. "I can't have you dicking around Cathar all day though. Why you avoiding temple duty?"

The question was asked with a casual, calm and soft tone. She wasn't accusing her of anything, she just wanted to know.

 

[Khoe Ghafara]

Khoe admired the old droid, having never seen a fully functioning one old D series though she swore she fought a pirate once using the top of a d1 as a helmet. At Jonyna's question she sighed, as perhaps another crack in her armour formed.

"Maybe avoiding isn't the right word, I'd say... disinterested in temple duty? I feel like I learn and grow out here" gesturing to the world around her, "than I do in any stuffy old temple"

"Where are you taking me by the way? cuz uhhh there's no way I can fit in that throwing dagger with an engine attached and uhhh all stuff is still on the speeder"

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Khoe Ghafara

"Just over to my ship. Wanted to get us away from the village." She nodded, walking over and leaning on the X-wing. "I get the feeling of the temple being too stuffy, but...come by some time. It's not as bad as you realize. We've got plenty of folks who'd love to meet you, I'm sure." She offered a kindness. "But if you are gonna be wandering, at least...find someone. A friend. I used to do what you do, ya know? Roaming around, helping where I could. It caught up to me eventually, and I only survived because of the friends I had backing me up. You're welcome to come visit the Temple if you want, or go find a place for yourself in the Galaxy, but my door will always be open."

 

[Khoe Ghafara]

Khoe blushed slightly at Jonyna's words but still hesitated, to say that this was not how she thought today would go would be an understatement,

"I appreciate that a lot, I really do, more than you may realize but I have my apprehension with the council. I'm sorry I know you're more than likely a person first and a councillor second but I cannot take you up on this."

She ducked under the folded wings of Jonyna's ship and rested on it as well.

"And i'm pretty happy with what I'm doing right now even when my master was around I was used to being alone, that's a talent I learned easily from t he Jedi; the joys of solitude."

She hung her head back

"That being said I was on my way to Nee-oo-my...?" Completely butchering the procuration despite drilling in her head over and over at the last settlement

"You're more than welcome to accompany me there."

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Khoe Ghafara

"I'm not gonna force you to do anything, but I would like to know your reasoning at least." Jonyna asked, "What did the Council do?"

She wasn't sure what council she was even talking about. As far as she was aware, the Council had been restarted several times. The most recent one by Valery herself.

She was sure a previous version did something awful. She was sure the GA of the past had. She'd learned about it in holocrons and holotapes. But not this one. Despite what most would believe, the current iteration, despite some difficulties, had a reputation as the 'good guys' for a reason...

 

[Khoe Ghafara]

"What they always do..."

Khoe deflected, not really willing to talk about it hell she didn't really know if their was anything to talk about there. Khoe at this moment gave then impression that Jonyna had prodded perhaps too far too fast and her body language could easily show that.

"It sounds like the villagers have calmed down so I'm going to continue on my way thanks again for the huge save. The offer still stands for you to come with at least for a little while"

Khoe said looking behind her back at the settlement trying to find an excuse out of this awkward situation.

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Khoe Ghafara

"I'm free for a bit, yeah. What exactly were you trying to do when you crashed headfirst into a tribal village?"

She'd keep the council bit in the back of her mind. Maybe reach out to Valery Noble and ask what the history of the Council was before she came out of the ice.

It was strange. She never had her troubles with the Council, outside of disagreements with Kahlil Noble .

To find someone who hated them, was strange.

 

[Khoe Ghafara]

Khoe smiled and gave Jonyna a hardy pat on the shoulder,

"Race yah there!"

Khoe booked it towards her speeder as fast as the force could take her giving herself a clear headstart at a glancing noticing a villager or two watching with interest. She with a singular whip pulled the canvas of the tepee off and scrambled to put all of her belongings back on her speeder in record time I might add and uncharacteristically forgot her helmet in the span of maybe 45 seconds to a minute tops she was off.

Riding out in the direction of the spring, the wind rushing past within the deep orange glow of the setting Cathari sun. She considered Jonyna luckily hailing of suck a beautiful world, her world was one of smog and industry the planetary ship yards always in view above a permanent reminder of the worlds purpose. Not that it was any more her home than any other planet, she didn't remember a thing about her time before the order not even her parents faces, she doesn't even have either of their markings. With these thoughts swirling in her head she closed her eyes and took her hands off the handles and outstretched them feeling the living force all around her...

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Khoe Ghafara

And now she was running. Great. Sylvar, it was like meeting a younger self.

Lucky for her, she had great stamina. "Dice, bring the Skytiger around. I'm gonna chase after." Jonyna spoke, her voice carrying on the wind.

Jonyna used this oppotunity to practice her own speed, catching up just in time to see Khoe taking off on their speeder. "...great."

 

[Khoe Ghafara]

Khoe got the speeder to stop with an ear piercing screech as the speeder drifted to the right breaking at lightning speeds, in terms of malfunctions this time around all that could be heard was a loud bang after Khoe stood up. Nioumaê choua was unlike she imagined a beautiful sapphire and amethyst coloured cenote stretching deep below through the force she could hardly feel the bottom, some bioluminescent life form even with the remaining sunlight still illuminated the pool making it oh so inviting. At the other side of the body of water she saw a herd of ungulate-like creatures scatter presumably at the sound of her speeder. Khoe did a large stretch before perching atop a rock removing her shoes and throwing them back to the speeder and dipping her toes in the water, relaxing her posture to playfully pretend she'd been there for hours. She sat there for a moment the breeze blowing a few braids back near-meditating.

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Khoe Ghafara

It took about an hour for Jonyna to finally catch up. She looked tired, but excited to finally be at the lake that she could dive into. Fresh water wasn't exactly scarce on Cathar, but lakes like this were rare. Without even addressing Khoe, Jonyna threw off her coat and jumped right in, letting out a sigh.

"You're a slippery one, ya know?" Jonyna commented as she emerged from the water, flicking her head back to throw her fiery locks back behind her. "Don't like authority then? What's the story?"

 

[Khoe Ghafara]

"Took you long enough!"

Khoe yelled as she watched Jonyna make a mad dash for the oh so enticing water, she'd fully convinced Khoe to take the plunge in that moment. Khoe's comment made her giggle calling her slippery as she starfished in the cenote.

"Well if that isn't the Colo Clawfish calling the Womprat wet."

Khoe stepped back on the rock before canon-balling into the water pulling her hair out of her face upon surfacing and spiting out some water before just lying in the crystal clear water.

"You and your questions Jonyna! I feel like I'm speaking with the temple guidance councillor." Khoe rolled her eyes before dipping underwater emerging just before the shore, the water may of been oh-so-enticing but it was also oh-so-cold, "My master that's where I get it from you should know this. What I'm more curious is why you don't seem to like authority, you're a sitting member of the Jedi high council on of the most important august bodies in the known galaxy and yet you're running errands on your home here on the outer rim during nearly wartime. What you do here clearly helps people but Cathar is a strong world I think the people here would do well without you; unless the Sith show up or something. I think we're both here for the same reason Jonyna." Khoe towelled herself down.

Jonyna Si