Sea, Sand and Sun (Open to Teen Characters)

[Abigail Meredydd]

Abigail laughed when [member="Beth Cadera"] invited her to come over to listen to her singing sometime.

"The shy Beth is inviting me to come listen to her sing?", she asked cheerily, before she leant forward a bit. "Who's blackmailing you? Is it Skor?"

Abigail then raised her eyebrows when Beth talked about experiments. "Don't you ever try any of those experiments on me, lady. I've had enough of those for a lifetime", she chuckled.

Then, as Beth asked her final questions, Abigail took her drink in her hand and took a sip. Perhaps a bit more than a sip, which proved to be unwise. Abigail's eyes narrowed, as she looked from the drink towards Beth. "This uh... it has a... specific taste", she said. "It's not bad or anything though."

Abigail cracked a smile as she focused on the questions Beth had asked her. "Right, I'm fine as always. The same old, I suppose", she chuckled. She then rolled her eyes when Beth asked whether she had met someone special yet. "Tell me, why is it you're always so interested in any potential 'interests' I have", she laughed. "But no, for the record, as always, I have not met anybody special yet. I'm a soldier, far too busy for that kind of stuff anyway. I don't have life at some university filled with interesting boys and girls."

When she came to the question about any interesting ruins, her eyes widened. "So here's the thing right, I have for once. It was quite heavily booby trapped, although I'm sure half of the 'traps' were just the caves being unstable as hell. Anyway, a few old totems and all that, quite interesting but also quite ordinary, but guess what. At the end lied some sort of... library, I guess? It contained a few old scrolls of some kind, detailing some weird way to store huge amounts of energy in a container as big as a fist!"

"Call it nonsense, as it might just be experiments that didn't even work in the first place, it definitely grasped my interest. And you know me", she shrugged," I can't just not try it out."

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth perked a brow, and her long elven ear turned slightly. She gave a playful scowl to [member="Abigail Meredydd"]. “I guess, if you wanted to come for whatever reason,” she said somewhat nonchalantly. “PFFT, [member="Skorvek"] couldn’t blackmail me if he even wanted too. Dude barely even talks when I’m around. Just stands there with no expression, I dunno.”

She cackled, pretending to be evil at her thoughts of experimentation. Beth still hadn’t decided if she liked the drink, either. “I’m… Not sure, how I feel about it,” she muttered as she sipped once more. She thought about asking the maker what exactly it was but… Decided she probably wouldn’t want to know the answer to that.

Beth leaned against the counter as she listened to Abigail answer all the questions she threw at her with an interested look. A small pfft at her dig at Beth’s university. “Hey, you can find love in the soldier world. Another soldier guy or gal or maybe the civvie who helps around the base or whatever.” She tsked at Abby’s pessimism.

However, the real interesting thing was what Abby explained during her wild adventures in the ruins of somewhere. “Scrolls?” Her face wrinkled in curiosity, “That is… Weird.”

Beth watched Abby carefully as she explained that she was going to try it out. “You know… That may uh, not be a wise decision. Lots of energy in a tiny container? One mistake and boom, no more Abby.”

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

Abigail cheerfully laughed at Beth's words about Skorvek. "Well, I agree, he's a bit different than the rest."

Abigail rolled her eyes again before she continued about the whole love thing. "I'm not saying it's impossible, Beth. I'm just saying I'm a very busy girl myself, and I'm away quite often. Besides even then, maybe no-one's interested in your big sister, huh?", she teased. Beth had always been a bit interested in Abigail's love life- or lack of it.

"And why don't we turn the question around, eh?", she then said with a grin. "What about you? Have you found your perfect match yet?", she grinned, putting extra emphasis on 'perfect'.

Then she nodded. "Jupp, scrolls, I know it's weird"

Abigail raised her eyebrows when [member="Beth Cadera"] mentioned it was slightly dangerous.

"And since when do you care about my well being?", she laughed, clearly joking. She knew Beth cared deeply for her, just as much as Abigail cared for Beth.
"It's mostly safe. I haven't stored big amounts of energy yet anyway. To be honest, I haven't really figured out how to do it yet either. It's a bit... complicated, I guess."

"That and bits of it are written in a language I don't understand", she then blurted out under her breath. She really hoped Beth didn't hear it, but she just had to say it. She couldn't lie to her sister. It was some stupid effect Beth had on her.

"I'll be fineee", she then chuckled as she waved it off.

 

[Jerek Zenduu]

Jerek nodded as [member="Allya Vi'Dreya"], ever the military commander, took charge of the group and their destination in the water. The boy shuddered softly as he glanced at the lapping waves on the beach, impatient to return to the warm embrace of the water. The sun’s heat shined down on the beach, but the seaside breeze that kept it from getting unbearable was the same thing that was cooling the damp teen down too much. It would be easier when they were back in the water, for now he just let the fire in his heart keep him burning.

The attraction he felt for Allya as he watched her assemble her gear and playfully tease him about being faster was effervescent, and he couldn’t help but grin in response. He couldn’t let her go without a remark, though, and dropped an offhand, ”Yeah, it's all that armor you normally wear, it makes you too slow. That’s probably how I caught you on Coruscant.”

He couldn’t be sure his girlfriend had noticed it, though, for she had drifted over to the red bikini girl to talk to her. The youth listened casually to the conversation to pick up the name Persephone, but let himself be busied passing out the remaining gear until all that was left was his own. It fit fairly well, at least well enough for the day. With everyone ready, he lead the group out into the water, making sure that [member="Micah"] in particular was following along. Once in the water, Jerek put the flippers on, and was pleased by how easily they helped him move through the water.

Now this was flying!

Affixing the snorkel to his mouth, Jerek dipped his head under the water experimentally. The sandy bottom of the beach shelf wasn’t much to look at yet, but the clarity the mask afforded, coupled with the freedom of breathing through the snorkel, promised a lot of fun farther out. He could already see the colorful maze of coral and plants that grew from the seabed floor near the mouth of the cove, a few swimmers already exploring out there, and with the shipwreck still farther beyond, Jerek was eager to get going.

He swam over to Allya, touching her on the shoulder, ”Alright, Speedy. Race you to the coral!”

[member="Persephone Shan"] | [member="Kahlil Zambrano"] | [member="Demitry Draskovits"] | [member="Seth Huze"] | [member="Kiran Arlos"] | [member="Seaja Linata"]​

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth chuckled with a nod as she sat her drink on the ground. “Indeed. Good guy, though,” she commented after the fact. He was a good person, who was a tremendous help to Adara and Yasha and the Clans, but that didn’t change the fact that he was a bit different. Not a bad thing, she supposed.

Beth perked a brow. “Pfft, plenty of people are interested in you. You just haven’t looked in the right places, yet!” She said with a confirming nod. [member="Abigail Meredydd"] would find love, darnit, whether or not she wanted it. She gave a huff before she shook her head.

“I haven’t, no. My standards are pretty high, so.” She said with a nod. She wasn’t one to just date for the heck of it, nope. Of course, who knew what approximately two years down the road entailed, particularly if she went to some kind of Masquerade or ball or something.

Nonetheless, Beth had a gasp on her face at Abby’s teasing. “I love you, girl, dang, why else?” She gave a playful scowl as she heard the blurt. She chuckled at the comment with a perked brow. “Ah, the truth comes out. Good, don’t ever learn it,” she said with a sagely nod.

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

"Oh, right. And where do you suggest I look for those people then. In your imagination perhaps?", Abigail chuckled as she gave Beth a cheerful wink. If Beth was allowed to push her to find a lover, Abigail was allowed to tease Beth every time she tried.

Her grin turned into a faked surprised expression as Beth told her she had 'pretty high standards'.

"Oh really now? So you haven't found someone yet because you have high standards, but I haven't found someone yet simply because I haven't looked in the right place? What are you saying about *my* standards, sis?", she laughed.

"I know, I know", she laughed. "And I love you too, even though you're a bit too scared for my health sometimes", she added with a wink.

When Beth told her not to learn it, Abigail opened her mouth to say something, but ended up saying nothing. She thought for a moment, raising her finger in the air, but still no sounds came out of her mouth. Eventually she just grinned as she looked at [member="Beth Cadera"] .

"Alright. No promises though."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

What's that? The writer decided to change Kahlil around to his current incarnation instead of the old one that was originally in the thread? You betcha. Gotta keep it where the muse is strong! And so the shy, scrawny Sith is no more, replaced by the Jedi version!

Kahlil smiled warmly as [member="Allya Vi'Dreya"] introduced him to [member="Jerek Zenduu"] , his arms casually resting behind his back. Swimming among the fish actually sounded like a fun thing to do, though he needed to make sure his shirt didn't ride up. Too many marks that couldn't be shown to just anyone around him. Grant it, he had no intention of rushing off ahead until the one he was waiting for arrived.

He glanced to the beech behind him, his hazel eyes glancing around curiously. [member="Eenia Vahn"] was certainly taking her time.

 

[Milla Caranthyr]

Milla turned to Kat when she gave her sympathies for the loss of her parents. She spoke about losing her father, then about her brother and brother in law being killed by none other than Mandalorians. "Thanks. I'm sorry to hear about your father, and your brother and brother in law."

She didn't want to lose what she had just gained. So Kat was right, Milla was going to have to fight. "I'll have to ask when I get back. I'm sure someone will train me."

[member="Kat Decoria"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth scoffed at [member="Abigail Meredydd"]. “You see, when the time is right it’ll happen.” Beth gave a sagely nod. Abby enjoyed her loner status, which was fine Beth assumed. Heck, she couldn’t even find someone.

“UGH, didn’t you say you were older than me earlier?” She said with a fake confused look.

Beth took another sip of the juice, finally deciding that she did not like it. But, she wasn’t about to waste it. She’d suffer through it.

Beth scowled playfully. “Of course I’m worried for your health! Your my sis, what would I do without you?” She said as she gently nudged her shoulder. Abby was family now. No matter what happened with their families, Abby was always going to be close to her.

She perked a brow, an ear even twisting. “No promises, pfft. I know exactly what that means, missy.”

 

[Eenia Vahn]

It wasn't a matter of taking her time, not really. Eenia had been fussing first with her swimsuit, and then at herself once she had put the swimsuit on. It was cute, most definitely, but the blonde turned this way and that as she tried to talk herself out of wearing it entirely. No such luck.

So instead, she had grabbed a cover and put it on over it. While the black material wasn't solid, it at least made Eenia feel a bit better about herself, and it let her get on her way.

Granted, by the time she made it to the beach, Nia was feeling self conscious again. There was a light flush to her cheeks as she made her way closer. She had braided her hair in a single plait to the side, and she had abandoned her shoes as soon as she got to the sands. Oh the things she let [member="Kahlil Zambrano"] talk her into...

"Kahlil!" she called out to him once she caught sight of him, and she waved a hand as she made her way closer.

 

[Allya Vi'Dreya]

Allya wiggled a bit side to side at Persephone, and smirked. “Don't worry! I got a plan for that! First, we have life jackets. They will keep your head above water. Second, a boat! You can be on the boat, with us, and go out there! Sound good?” The young teen smirked, and waggled her finger at the young woman. “Don't worry. And if everything goes back, my specialty is telekinesis! I can getcha out of the water in a split second. Or just bend the water to create a bubble, though that one is a tad harder.”

She pointed at the small little boat. “Can you drive it? It's pretty simple honestly, there is actually an autopilot if you can't. Push a button and foof! There ya are!”

As Jerek teased her, the bikini glad girl placed a hand on her hip, and stared at him. “Oh? So it was a flook, is what you are saying hmmm? And frankly, the fact I can move so well in that heavy armor, if you were in it, you would probably drop to the ground, fly boy.” She stuck her tongue out at him playfully. Eyes sparkled with attraction as she looked over the teen boy, and drunk in his presence. She experienced in him in so many ways, through the force, her eyes, and for a brief moment, she reached up to caress his cheek, before he darted into the water. The girl ran after him completely. She dove into the water, but never let the force give her a boost.

While it was fun, she enjoyed the physical activity, and didn't feel the need to tap into the power yet. However, she dove into the water and PLAYED. Her body dove down to the sandy bottom and she used her hands to propel her for quite some time. The heavy training she had done with the commandos had given her a good lung capacity. However, she didn't test it more than a minute, before she popped back up. Soon her lover's hand touched her shoulder, and she turned to face him. Brown eyes stared into his blue, and she swam close, letting her body touch his a moment. Lips briefly touched lips, before they turned into a lopsided grin. “You are on!”

Her sister was a mermaid Sithspawn. There was no way if she was there that Allya would win, however, right now? Like this? Perhaps she could! The girl dove under the water and kicked her long, powerful legs to move the flippers. The force guided her in the right direction, ever present even with her eyes closed in the salt water. She opened herself up to the force, and enjoyment as she swam full tilt towards the reef. With her powerful lungs, the young teen barely needed to come up to get air from the snorkel.

[member="Kahlil Zambrano"]
[member="Jerek Zenduu"]
[member="Micah"]
[member="Persephone Shan"]

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"There you are." Kahlil smiled warmly as soon as [member="Eenia Vahn"] came into view. He waved her down as he stood by the waters edge, grinning from ear to ear. "I was wondering what took you so long. Come on, we gotta go scuba diving. What ever that is." The young man chuckled, holding out a hand for his girlfriend to take. It was defiantly easier now that she was here beside him. Hand in hand he would lead them out to the group, grinning to Nia before waving down the group.

"Hey, Allya. We'll swim."

[member="Allya Vi'Dreya"] [member="Jerek Zenduu"] [member="Micah"] [member="Persephone Shan"]

 

[Zeke Tune]

Zeke takes her hand, and pulls her close, as he begins to walk down the beach. His eyes looked at the kids and their antics, and he laughed a bit. Some were no younger than Lori but, acted it. His eyes lit up with amusement and mirth. “Honestly, when I'm at the beach I normally get stuck drawing, or swimming. I rarely stop to look for items I can find. But right now, the new thing is that I have never beach combed with you. And I felt that was a waste of time. I came to spend time with you, and while swimming is amazing, you are far more so. And hmmm, I think they have, I just think I'm staying out of their way, so they don't consider me a threat.” His voice was tinged with playfulness at the remark. “I'm here to flirt with my girl, like many of them are. They get it, and I get them. As such, I think it's less about noticing, and more about us coming to a mutual understanding.”

The man reached out, and entwined their fingers. Sand crunched with each step they took down the beach and the sound of the waves created a soothing melody. There was the sound of whatever avian like creatures flew in the sky. The artist opened his mind to all the sensations of the beach, but this time, he kept his eyes on the beach itself, as well as where the waves met the land, to see if there was anything beautiful or interesting to be found. “Honestly, I just want experiences with you. So, forgive me. I don't think I've done anything quite like this before.”

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Kat Decoria]

Kat smiled to the young girl, "Well, I can teach you some Echani fighting stuff. My brothers taught me most of what I know in terms of combat." It would be interesting to pass on her knowledge to someone else. Standing up, Kat stretched her limbs and inhaled deeply. "Hmmm, till then, did you want to go for a swim? I could really go for a swim!" Kat grinned down to Milla.

She ran towards the sea and jumped into the water, it was cooler than the beach but not much cooler. It was pleasant and she let her silvery hair flow in the water and stretched out in the water. Closing her eyes, Kat sighed contently.

[member="Milla Ordo"]

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

"When the time is right", Abigail repeated. "When the time is right..."

After almost sinking into some strain of deep thoughts, Abigail raised an eyebrow, confused by Beth's words.

"Why yes I did. That's because I am older, silly."

Abigail's eye momentarily twitched as she observed [member="Beth Cadera"] take yet another sip of her drink as she did the same. Then a small smirk appeared on her face as she gave Beth a knowing look. Even if she tried to hide it, it was obvious to her.

"You don't have to finish it if you don't want to", she teased with a wink as she nodded towards the drink Beth was holding. Abigail had to admit that the taste wasn't the best in the world.

"Without me?", Abigail asked before smiling. "Oh, I don't know, but hopefully a lot. I wasn't planning on babysitting you, but if that's what you require, I'll still around to assist you", she laughed before putting her hands in the air.

"Joking. I love you too, sis", she said between chuckling. "Seriously, I do. We're family after all! But don't worry so much about me, I'm used to a bit of danger", she said before giving Beth a pat on her shoulder.

"Welllll I mean 'no promises' really only means one thing, and that's that I don't promise to not mess with the scrolls. Doesn't necessarily mean I will though. I'm sure I'll end up heeding your wise advice."

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori stuck out her tongue. "Stuck drawing or swimming? Those are your favourite things. Nothing to complain about there." Her cheeks reddened slightly as [member="Zeke Tune"] continued, talking all about wanting to beachcomb with her above all else, and to experience everything with her. Such a bizarre thing in being treated like a Goddess or something.

"There's nothing to forgive you for. So don't worry about it. And as long as they don't try to kick you out, I'll be happy." She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

Her eyes fell to the sand then, studying their shadows as well as what lay beneath. Bits of shells could be seen, but she was looking for some whole ones. Lori spotted one, though it was partially buried. She crouched down and began working through the sand until the shell was freed. It was an oval in shape, and a dull brown in colour, a couple of shades darker than the sand. Once turned over though, various shades of blues and purples swirled as though they were painted. There was a shimmer to it as well, not caused by the wetness of the water, but by it's own colours.

"Ooooo....it's so pretty." She smiled proudly at her find and handed it over to Zeke to inspect.

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

The kitten was positive that the Jedi did not fully appreciate the majesty and masterpiece that was Sand Castle Vader.

Then again, if Jedi had even half a brain, then they'd all be Sith. So there was no accounting for taste. Except of course, that the Jedi clearly realized that his Sith kitten companion was his cat overlord. The way that the Jedi teenager checked to ensure that his Cathar master was close by would have been endearing, but for the fact that such devotion was expected of those who bowed before the power of the Dark Side.

...then again, Jerek also kept that girl around as well. Clearly, there was no accounting for taste.

In any event, the Jedi had designs to go swimming and the small Cathar was not one to be left behind.

The mask was a bit tricky. These things were clearly made for the near-human market, accommodating those races who carried their ears on the sides of their head as opposed to higher on the crown, as was the case with the cat-eared youngling. In spite of such species-ist discrimination in product design, the boy managed to get the mask situated on his face.

Of course, now he had a snorkel that was pinned up against his left ear.

That took some more adjustment before he had the snorkel angled so that it and his ear could both live in harmony together on the side of his head.

Someone needed to design swimming accessories for the adventurous Cathar!

...except that business model wasn't likely to get very far. Most Cathar stayed in the jungles or desert. For precisely this reason. Cathar and water were not exactly used in sentences together all that often.

[member="Jerek Zenduu"] | [member="Allya Vi'Dreya"] ​

 

[Jerek Zenduu]

Though Jerek had offered the challenge, when [member="Allya Vi'Dreya"] approached him, he couldn’t help but wish she would decline. Just floating there in the shallow inlet, gently treading water with his arms and legs, he was an easy target for her to get in close and steal a kiss from him. Too much of him wanted to wrap his arms around her and forget about the race, to forget about the coral and the shipwreck, to forget about the others. To simply exist in the moment, in the water, holding his girlfriend, with no other cares or thoughts in mind. To the Jedi teenager, it sounded like the perfect type of meditation.

And then Allya pushed off of him, grinning coyly as she darted ahead of him in the water, leaving him considering that he wouldn’t mind if she beat him in this race, but then he understood. The girl knew just how to push his buttons, he couldn’t let her win by such dirty tactics!

Slipping under the water, the boy affixed his snorkel as he pumped his powerful legs to propel him forward. He stayed close to the surface to maintain his airflow, even though he could have simply modulated control of his breath needs through the assistance of the Force. No, for this contest, he wanted to stay as close to Allya’s abilities as he could. His girlfriend tried her hardest to train without the Force, even forcing it with Ysalmiri. He expected he was little match for her abilities, but he wanted to at least try, the Force could always be a reserve.

Stretching out his arms in front of him, Jerek glided forward through the water. The green-blue of the warm ocean water flowed over his body, he could feel it rippling through his hair, over his skin, ruffling the fabric of his board shorts. Colors rushed past him as sand, shells, rocks and animals seemed to fly underneath him, a few even around him in the water, and the boy eyed them with wonder. He was still focused on the target, but the teen could not help but admire the beauty contained beneath the waves of this world. Flying in a starfighter thrilling to him, but it sorely lacked the views that swimming provided him now.

The bubbles in the churning water ahead of him brought Jerek back to the beauty contained in the figure currently beating him in his own race. He swam with a renewed fervor, striving hard for the finish line, seeing the coral quickly approaching. His legs fluttered slowly from the ankles, first one and then the other, letting the flippers do their job to accelerate him faster and faster. From time to time, the boy pushed his arms back, both to stabilize himself and adjust his angle as he needed, but otherwise he let the flippers do the work.

As he drew alongside Allya, Jerek drew in a breath and then spit out the snorkel, letting it bob by the side of his face. He dived, switching to an undulating kick to push him forward faster, emulating marine animals that had evolved to do this naturally. The coral drew near to his outstretched arms, he only needed a little more distance. Just another minute would close the gap and seal him as the winner, if Allya did not overtake him in the end. Part of him wanted to see what would happen if she did finally beat him in a race, he had won their last one.

Still, more of him wanted to win!

[member="Micah"] | [member="Persephone Shan"] | [member="Kahlil Zambrano"] | [member="Demitry Draskovits"] | [member="Seth Huze"] | [member="Kiran Arlos"] | [member="Seaja Linata"] | [member="Eenia Vahn"]​

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth perked a brow at [member="Abigail Meredydd"]’s intense, deep thought. She shrugged, “Technicalities or whatever,” she muttered as she watched some of the other kiddos run into the ocean. She sighed for a minute, looking back to Abby.

“Gosh, I was barely allowed to even come how old I am. And then there was the debate on was it chronological? Or nah?” She muttered, mostly to herself before returning to her normal self. “I don’t think I’m going to finish, you want it?” She said with a grin, offering the beverage to her.

Beth then scoffed playfully at Abby’s next round of teasing. “Yeah, come babysit, whateverrr. At least you won’t get yourself blown up,” she winked.

Beth squinted at Abby, “Better not hear about you getting blowed up from Alex or Noah or something,” she said more seriously. Nonetheless, Beth leaned against the counter as she looked out to the beautiful water.

 

[Eenia Vahn]

Once Eenia was close enough, her fingers laced easily with [member="Kahlil Zambrano"]'s, though both of her brows lofted at him. "We have to go do what?" she questioned. The blonde's gaze shifted towards the water stretched out ahead of them, and then she looked back to him again. "Sorry it took so long..." she murmured at him, though didn't give him an explanation as to why.

But, she was here now! And while a little uncomfortable, she was at least willing to see and possibly even try these new things.