Private Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

[Colette]

Valery Noble

“Of course, Master. I—”

Colette stopped dead in her tracks. For a moment she blinked, and then she twisted her head to look over at Valery with a quite surprised expression across her face. Did she just… ? Noo…? Unless?

“I’m sorry, master, I…” She cleared her throat. “I swear you just said I am the one guiding us through your home.”

The look on Valery’s face was enough to know that this was exactly what she had said. Colette began to slowly bob her head up and down in a nod of understanding before she began to follow Valery yet again.

“Okay,” She said and rubbed at her neck. “So it’ll be like scout duty from back home, except less predictable.”

“I can do that.”

…

“How do I do that?”

 

[Valery Noble]

New Cov

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Colette

"I swear you just said I am the one guiding us through your home."

Valery just snickered and already began to walk back across Temple grounds, so they could reach the one safe path away from the Temple and into the Jungle. There was no dome or structure keeping it separated from nature, but the Jedi had their ways to keep animals or plants from lashing out aggressively.

"You can do it, Colette," Valery assured her as they walked.

She then looked over her shoulder and smirked, "You've already learned the individual pieces to this puzzle, but now it's time to bring it all together. The first step in walking through the jungle safely is Force Sense. Just being aware of life, and where it's strongest. A large predator will be more distinct than a harmless little bug." Not that all bugs were harmless, but one step at a time, she figured.

"But there's more than just life force that we can sense. If we reach out, we can feel the emotions of people or animals as well. Through something we call Force Empathy. It can tell you a lot about whether or not someone or some creature might become hostile, and it helps you avoid them. The trick is not to confront and learn how to fight predators, but to avoid becoming their prey."

"We must honor life, after all." She looked at her Padawan with a smile and stopped as they reached the path downhill and into the jungles.

"Can you reach out that way? I'll explain more as we walk, but that combination of finding life and understanding it will already help a lot."

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

Colette nodded her head before her right hand motioned up and then down in front of her chest. Deep breath in, deep breath out to help focus on where she was in this very moment. A small dot, a ripple in an ocean of many more ripples. Her eyes closed to help her envision it and to block out the things she could see and help with what it was that she could know was before her.

The energy coming from her inward presence was the easiest to locate. Then there was a strong presence close-by, no doubt it was Valery. Warm, understanding and calming, yet tempestuously grand and familiar. Wandering out from there the signatures grew vague, colder, more primal. Lingering roars of tremendous power and agony both reverberated around them. If Colette had to guess she would have assumed that something very big had hunted nearby recently. She kept the feeling in mind for when her eyes finally opened to the world around her; both physically and mentally.

“We should be safe as long as we keep to the paths.” She said and took the first step into their journey. “There is… Something nearby, but it’s not very interested in us. For now.”

Unknowingly, Colette’s jaw seemed to clench as she focused as much as she could on the task. With each step that she took she could feel herself peer across the area for any visual signs of danger before inevitably coming to a stop. Another deep breath swept through her system.

“Sorry, it… Takes some getting used to.”

 

[Valery Noble]

New Cov

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Colette

"The paths will end very soon," Valery told her but for now, she did follow along and moved over the path the Jedi had made as a way into the jungle. But even Jedi knew it was best to avoid going in too deep, and the people on New Cov lived in domed cities for a reason. Nature beyond the walls was thus left mostly undisturbed, and they were heading into it without a real destination. Valery just wanted her to observe, learn and perhaps appreciate what they were going to see and feel.

Soon enough, the two came to a stop and Colette seemed to need a moment to catch her breath. Valery waited patiently, offered a smile, and looked around. "With practice, something like Force Sense will become essentially passive to use, and that's something to really work towards. But it's also important that you don't ever believe yourself to be in a safe environment just because you think you feel everything around you."

She looked at Colette again and without explaining anything, suddenly suppressed her Force presence. Colette could perhaps still feel her because of the bond between a Master and Padawan, but if she had been further away, it would have likely been impossible. "Other Force-sensitives can mask their presence, and if the potential threat is a droid..." She didn't really need to say more.

"But even in those situations, if an ambush you can't feel from afar is waiting for you, the Force will be a guide. Right before scary moments or perhaps dangerous situations, have you ever felt something you couldn't explain? A shiver down your spine, a feeling of being watched, or a tremor in your mind?"

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

How peculiar, Colette thought, as she noticed the way her master seemed to disappear and then reappear again in the force despite her obvious physical presence. It got the kid to raise an eyebrow before she looked back out at the other end of the path again to see that it was indeed ending soon.

“I mean, yeah.” Colette said as she kept her eyes closed and slowly pushed along the path with her hand extended. “Keer said that was the force trying to tell me something when he first saw me.”

So maybe in some regards the force was present in everyone. It was hard not to meet someone who had experienced one of those ‘bad feelings’ about whatever ‘this’ was. More often than not they seemed to have come true as well, but that might just have been a subconscious trick of the person’s actual senses and not so much the force.

“Wait…” Colette frowned for a moment as she stopped. “I think…”

There was a rustle in the bushes from where her mind was telling her it would.

“Something is stalking us.”

 

[Valery Noble]

New Cov

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Colette

She felt it too.

Even though Valery had made Colette their guide, she wasn't going to actually let something terrible happen by not paying attention herself. She was tracking each and every creature that could be dangerous, and she knew this part of the jungle so well, that she was familiar with the plants that lived here too.

Valery knew what they were heading into, but she was ready for the unexpected at the same time.

"Then we have several options," Valery said calmly. "You can try to stand your ground, you could run or... you could try to make it leave. Some animals hunt for food, and they are the most dangerous. But a lot of creatures are also just territorial, and if you can assure them that you're no threat, they will leave you alone."

She paused and looked over her shoulder.

"Try to reach out to it."

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

To reach out to a wild beast and tell it to leave. To do what the tribe had to train years for, but in a single day. Colette gave Valery a nod as she closed her eyes again and extended her hand towards the source of the disturbance. For a moment she didn’t really know what to do, but given what Valery had said about sensing the presence of others and threats it felt like it had something to do with that.

Colette’s extended hand lowered for a moment as she slowly let the other signatures around them go. The thing that was following them wasn’t particularly big, or at least that was the impression she got from the force. It was wild, but content for the moment, most likely something that had just eaten and was more curious about what was going on in its territory. She supposed that was a familiar impulse for someone like her. The desert had, after all, been her tribe’s preferred spot to wander. If something alien had disturbed it she would have wanted to investigate too.

And that was the thread she would try to weave from herself to the predator. They were both curious members of the pack investigating an unusual disturbance. The world seemed to fade from her ears and eyes as she let the message carry through the force.

Valery would see the nearby vegetation split, and out of it came something small — that was to say in animal terms. It looked like a loth-wolf but smaller, about the size of Colette and more importantly native to the area. It cautiously approached the weird looking human with her hand extended that seemed to speak to them. A cautious sniff became an all too curious one as it slowly appeared to step closer and closer to this weird creature of the pack.

From Colette’s perspective it was all coming together. She had told the creature that she wasn’t a threat and that she was merely paying tribute to them and that this was an offer of friendship. What that ‘offer’ consisted of was a bit difficult to say, but animals weren’t exactly the brightest either.

Before she knew it, a wet snout brushed against her hand and forced her back into the real world again. A look of surprise set on her face for a moment, surprised at the creature that now stood before her until eventually she slowly extended her hand towards it to brush against the side of its head and give it a gentle stroke of its fur along its neck.

“Hey there, big guy.” She said while she tried to contain her joy. “You’re a curious one, aren’t you?”

“Yes you are.” She said and began to scratch it using her other hand as well. “Yes you are!”

 

[Valery Noble]

New Cov

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Colette

Quietly, Valery watched as her Padawan slipped deeper into the Force and reached out to the creature she had felt stalking them. It was something she had learned from the Jedi Beastmasters a long time ago herself, and while she wasn't the best at it, even just the basics could prevent a situation from escalating. When the sound of bushes parting reached her ears, Valery already knew that Colette had done just that.

"Oh my,"

Valery blinked as a smaller Bha'lir approached, and even felt a little tense about it. They were some of the most dangerous predators inside the New Cov jungles, and incredibly territorial, but there was no hostile intent from it at all. It felt surprisingly calm and even walked up to the young Padawan to get some attention from her.

"Seems you've got some natural talent for this, Colette," Valery said calmly while Colette... scratched it.

"How does it feel? How does the jungle feel to you now?"

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

But beasts were fickle creatures. Colette was granted the chance to get close to it for a second until eventually, and rather suddenly, the creature grew tired of it. Being somewhat attuned to it, Colette slowed her scratching down and gently sunk to a knee and bowed her head to the bha’lir who continued to sniff her forehead with what might have seemed like a hungry sniff before it backed off and ran back into the forest again.

The kid could feel her heart pound against her chest for a moment before the worst of the adrenaline wore off and she let out a sharp exhale and puffed her cheeks in relief.

“I love it.” She said and quickly turned around to face her master with a wide smile. “Inhospitable, but fair. Just like home.”

“I mean, when the true king of the region comes to visit, you make sure to pay him the proper respects.” She said and looked back at where the beast had ran off into the jungles. “I wouldn’t say so much natural talent as, maybe…” She turned back to Valery again. “I don’t know. Animals aren’t difficult. Most act on instinct, and it’s all about managing their expectations and how you deal with them.”

Still, she looked at her hands. It seemed to Colette that she just did what Valery had told her to do. Maybe it wasn’t so much that Colette had done something as much as the bha’lir who had seen something in her presence.

“In the desert we gained the favor of our surroundings by always treating it with the respect and reverence it deserved.” She smiled fondly once again. “And if an animal attacked, it was because that was in their nature. As creatures of intellect, we can understand this and choose our response accordingly.”

“So, in most cases we chose peace. And in most cases it worked.”

 

[Valery Noble]

New Cov

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Colette

"That's a good way to put it," Valery said with a smile. "Inhospitable but fair." She'd have to remember that for the next Padawan she dragged into the jungles for this lesson. It likely wouldn't be as smooth as today, but every little bit helped. Colette thought about it differently though — she didn't seem to believe it was talent.

"That's easier said than done, though. How do you think most people react when they see a dangerous predator stalking them? You kept calm, listened to my advice, and then figured out a way to do it. You can be proud of that, even if it wasn't the most difficult thing for you." She chuckled and glanced around for a moment.

When her gaze returned to Colette, she listened to what she said about her people and nodded.

"That's a very similar approach to mine and the Jedi who lived here. We can all share this home with the creatures who live here, as long as we're aware of their nature, and try not to disturb it." She paused for a moment and touched the part of the scar that ran over her cheek.

"That said, there are times when you can get cornered, and peace is not an option. Not because you don't want it to be, but because you're being attacked. That's when you have to be ready to defend yourself because that's exactly when you're dealing with something or someone truly dangerous."

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

Fear, panic, death, Colette thought to Valery’s question but kept herself from saying it. And when that motherly little rant on wildlife attacks came, Colette merely smiled and chuckled.

“I know that, master.” She said and laughed again. “I have seen many of my tribesfolk attacked by predators in the past. When the moment comes to fight for my life, I will know.”

Colette smiled for a bit longer before she turned around to look at the desert landscape around them yet again.

“Any person dumb enough to willingly enter the territory of a highly territorial and hungry beast should, at the very least, be prepared to respond when the host decides that their skin and bones are back on the menu.”

“We got lucky today that our host had already eaten.”

 

[Valery Noble]

New Cov

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Colette

"I know, I know..." Valery would never forget where her Padawan was from and what kind of person she was but... "I'm just wanting to make sure. That's my job, you know?" Even if she was perhaps a little excessive when it came to the safety of her Padawans. They had always been the closest things to having kids to her, and even though she had actual kids now of her own, she was still incredibly protective of her Padawans as well.

Valery's gaze then followed Colette's out into the jungle, and she chuckled.

"Well, the Bha'lir are also very territorial. I think you've helped with this situation a lot more than its full stomach." She placed a hand on Colette's shoulder and squeezed gently before walking forward. Then she paused, glanced back at her Padawan, and smiled.

"Do you want to see where I used to train in these jungles?"

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

The kid smiled at the comfort of the squeeze on her shoulder. Valery was certainly very much protective of her students. Maybe even a little too protective, Colette thought for a moment. She supposed it came with the feeling of responsibility for someone else’s well-being, but Colette had clearly shown that she was capable as long as Valery was around.

Beyond that, a question was asked.

“Uhm,” Colette began as her head turned over towards Valery with an eyebrow already reaching for her hairline. “Duh?”

She laughed for a moment.

“Is it far?”

 

[Valery Noble]

New Cov

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Colette

"Duh?"

Valery smirked and shook her head, "Not at all, and I think you'll like it." Without another word said, Valery began to move and unlike before, she quickened her pace. The jungle felt as alive and dangerous as before, but she trusted Colette to pick up on it, and she was paying attention herself as well. There was no way she'd allow any predator to sneak up on them, and even the plant life wouldn't be a threat.

Soon enough, they'd hear the sound of rushing water.

"There's a small cave behind the waterfall where I'd set up camp, but I trained all around this area. Jumping up and down the waterfall on slippery rocks, using the trees and open ground along the river..." She smiled as she looked at the beauty of the waterfall. The stream came down from the mountains and went all the way into the valley that stretched out far from them.

It felt as calming as it was loud.

"If you'd like, we could spend a night in the jungles as well. Not really part of the lesson about danger I was trying to teach, but it can be interesting and you seem to love being out here more than on Coruscant or other Temples."

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

Quickened pace, deadly animals around, focus on the leader, and follow behind. This was basically like being home again except without the comfort of occasionally being able to rest on a hovering platform as it went through some of the more rougher terrains. In truth it was a good call back to when Colette was still dreaming about becoming chief scout of her tribe, or whichever tribe it was that she would have been part of at that point.

By the time they reached the waterfall, Colette was most certainly in need of a rest. Of course, Valery seemed to be just fine. But she also had at least two decades of experience with the area and exercise like this in general.

Colette’s hands reached for her knees for support as she let in a few deep breaths to steady herself and push on.

“I would love to spend the night with you.” Colette smiled and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “If you think this area is secure enough, and that we could maybe fit behind that waterfall, I’d love that.”

“It’s been too long since I got to breathe actual air and let actual natural scent invigorate the senses.” The kid said and seemed as giddy as before, except perhaps a bit more held back on account of the jungle that now threatened to kill them if they forgot their place on the food chain. “The running of water, actual fresh water, and— and— sounds of life that I’ve never ever heard before!”

“Will we stay today, or did you mean that we come back later?”

 

[Valery Noble]

New Cov

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Colette

Looking to her left and down, Valery noticed that Colette was quite tired after the quick journey through the jungle. She chuckled, patted the Padawan on the back, and looked around. "This area is decently safe, especially behind the waterfall. The cave there is more than big enough for the two of us as well. You can stretch your legs and sleep without having to get all close." She smirked and began to walk along the river that flowed down into the valley.

"I know how you feel," Valery then said.

"Being on Coruscant for too long almost makes me forget just how free I feel out here." She paused and glanced around. "Few things are better than nature left undisturbed, hm?" Valery smiled once more and stopped right by the side of the waterfall, from where she squeezed herself passed some rocks, and entered the cave. The air felt different inside and it was a good bit colder, but it was as big as she remembered it to be.

"We'll stay here today, but we'll need a few things. Firewood, something to eat, and enough water." She looked at Colette and grinned. "You feel like taking care of either of those things?"

"I'm going to make a quick run back to the Temple and get us some bedrolls and other supplies. Maybe we'll stay longer than a day out here. There's enough to see and experience."

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

Colette shuddered. Colder temperatures still had a way of hitting her a bit harder than warmth, but that was nothing that slow acclimatization to her new environment wouldn’t fix. Or so her routine health checks would seem to say.

“I am thinking that firewood and water should be easy enough.” Colette said and hooked a thoughtful finger to her chin. “Get the wood, get a fire started, get some water from the falls, and boil it over the fire to sterilize it enough to be drinkable.”

In case it hadn’t been all too obvious, the girl had grown up focusing on surviving situations like these. Her head bobbed up and down as she took in the space of their cave to get a better grip on their situation. Valery would have to go back to the temple and get stuff, sort it out, and then come back. That gave her thirty minutes at the very least to get it all in order. Thirty minutes of solitude where the only real danger was herself and the world around her.

Of course, given her fatigue it wasn’t as clear cut as that. What energy she had left would need to be divided between finding appropriate lumber and keeping an ear and eye — as well as that other sixth sense, the force — on her surroundings. Odds of death were never zero, but… She gave it a decent chance that she would have an encounter, and then an even greater chance that it would be something she could manage.

She turned back to Valery and nodded.

“If anything happens I’ll retreat into the cavern and wait it out until you come back.”

 

[Valery Noble]

New Cov

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Colette

"I agree, and I know you can handle it," Valery assured her. She then placed a hand on her Padawan's shoulder, squeezed and grinned before stepping away. Even before they had gone into the Jungle, Valery had considered the option of spending the night there. But only after their earlier encounter with the Bha'lir, she felt certain that Colette was ready for it. In fact, she seemed more ready for survival in one of the Galaxy's most dangerous jungles, than she seemed ready to handle Coruscant traffic.

Like Master, like Padawan.

With all of that out of the way, Valery turned back and moved towards the Temple at a steady pace. She could easily get there and back really fast, but she wanted to leave her Padawan alone for just a little while. It would be a good test to see how she'd behave if she believed her Master to be too far away to help.

Of course, Valery was constantly focusing on her. Even the slightest fear that something could happen, and she'd be there faster than lightning.

Meanwhile, Colette would find herself mostly in silence, with only the sound of rushing water and birds chirping interrupting that peace. But now that she was alone, perhaps life around her would stand out even more as well. Large creatures were on the move, and even the plants that lived inside the jungle seemed to 'wake up'.

Was she still alone?

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

Deep cautious breaths and padded footfalls. Each step that Colette took outside of the cave was a step that came with no small amount of attention to her immediate surroundings. Each snap of a twig that she caused from gathering tinder in the area was one that was followed by a second or two of complete silence as she kept her mind open to any and all threats in the area.

As she withdrew her saber from her hip to cut down an already dead tree there was something on the very periphery of her sixth sense. A tickle in the force, a flare in the dark. She turned the saber on to cut a sizable piece of the tree down and quickly caught the collapsing piece in her arms. A few weeks ago she would have collapsed on the ground from the force. These days however it seemed that she had the ability to stand up to the force a bit better. She fell to her knee for a moment before she pushed back up with relative ease and began to move it towards the opening for the cave.

That presence was still around, she could feel it. There was no malevolence to it, but peace was certainly not a word she would use to describe whatever it was that it was feeling. Hunger was also not something that she would have used to describe it. Worry, caution, but an overwhelming desire to kill first and ask second.

This was as good of a reason as any for Colette to sneak on back inside the cave with what she had. The second that she had gotten most of what she needed back inside was the same moment that the beast decided to step out into the open. Colette was safe in her little cave, but Valery certainly wasn't.

With the fire arranged but unlit, she began to sneak back to the entrance to look at the creature as it laid down in the clearing by the small pond at the base of the waterfall. She wanted to see Valery handle this. The curiosity that burned inside demanded it.

 

[Valery Noble]

New Cov

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Colette

Was she going to prank her Padawan if she got the chance?

Of course.

After collecting everything they needed for their camping trip, Valery moved back through the jungle at an even faster pace than before. With her Force presence suppressed, she hoped to catch Colette outside the cave still, and surprise her a little with either an ambush or some kind of trick to startle her. Or, perhaps, to just test how well she was paying attention to her surroundings. That'd probably be her excuse for the prank, too.

But as Valery approached the cave, she sensed something else there as well. A form of life, strong and dangerous, but it wasn't feeling aggressive. Colette must have found a way to remain hidden from it, or else it likely would have attacked. Once the Jedi Master got close enough, and looked down at the creature from high up in a tree, she recognized what it was.

A Gharzr.

"Great..." she muttered to herself.

Even though she was very good at anticipating danger and handling it, she was absolutely no beast master. She wasn't going to bond with this creature even if she tried, not the way Colette or her husband could. So instead, she closed her eyes and reached out with the Force. Several branches began to flat out from the bushes around it, and poked the creature until it opened its eyes and realized that there were floating branches all around it.

She prodded a few more times, forced the wood into chaotic patterns, and scared off the creature that way.

"Colette?" Valery asked after jumping down. "Did you finish setting up?"