The Fox's Earth.

[Vulpesen]

"More evidence that you aren't as sith as you seem to believe." Vulpesen smiled and closed his eyes for a moment. As nice it was talking to Rah, he did wish to take a second to enjoy the wilds around him. The sounds, the smells, the very life that swirled around him in the force. "Noble is helping others for the sake of helping others. Its sacrificing yourself so that another might thrive. Its the agony and pain that comes in giving someone joy. I don't consider myself a paragon of my code. But through all the pain that following it has caused, there are still moments when it all becomes worth it. Like when I see the smile of an orphan I've saved."

 

[Riamah]

What Vulpesen said about her not being quite as Sith she thought, Ra just grunting noise as if she didn't like to hear what he had just said. There was silence between them for a few minutes before he answered her question on being noble.

"To be fair, I rescued that orphan before I became a sith. Though I would do it again if that situation happened. It's a child and well, I think I already told you my opinion on them."

When it came to pain, Ra felt that's what life itself was. She'd had very little pleasure in hers and remained silence on that matter.

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

"And here you've made it sound like sith is all you remember. With a few brief interludes in trading and castle management." Slowly, Vulpesen started to rise up, his tail lashing out behind him as he glanced around the forest. "One of the reasons I like you. Not so long before I left the order, I was ordered to kill a kid." Leaning back against a tail that arced over Ra's head, Vulpesen kept his balance as his body bounce softly with each padded step of the fox.

 

[Riamah]

"My story is odd. I'll tell you sometime when we're just sitting and not riding around in the wilderness."

Ra watched as he stood up and she shook her head.

"One of the reasons you like me is because I feel children are the future of the galaxy? I would never intentionally harm a child."

Thinking back on the day she broke, it was something that had happened to her that she didn't like to remember. Her master had sent her to kill a married couple that were speaking out against him. Ra had done was he requested, as she left their house their children had come home. The pain in their eyes and the wailing they had done broke the young sith that day. From that day on, she vowed she would never intentionally hurt a child again.

"Did you?"

No matter what decision Vulpesen had made then, it didn't change who he was now nor would it affect what Ra thought of him.

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

"I'll look forward to it." His hands rose above his head, before closing on a low hanging branch which he then hoisted himself up upon. Now left with a single rider, Shadow kept riding as before. "Its a reason as good as any when dealing with a sith. Of course, there are a few other reasons you're so likable." Passing her a small wink, Vulpesen started to move through the leaves.

As she asked about his course of Action, Vulpesen ceased for a moment, caught in the memory. Certainly a horrid one, and something that brought to light a darker moment in his life. Still, his answer wasn't quite as horrid as he felt. "No... but I might have done worse, or at least something as bad. Who knows how scarred the child was after I buried him in the mutilated bodies of his guards."

 

[Riamah]

Letting out a small snort of almost laughter, Ra watched as Vulpesen put himself into one of the trees. Shaking her head, she looked at Shadow before speaking what popped into her mind.

"I trust you not to run me into or off anything."

On hearing she he didn't kill the child, she nodded with a half smile. It appeared they had both done horrid things in their lives and changed the lives of those children, maybe for the worse. Certainly in her case.

"Typical boy, climbing trees."

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

Continuing onward once more, Vulpesen leaped from branch to branch, slipping through the trees as he traveled just a little ahead of Ra, guiding her and Shadow through the forest. "Shadow's smart enough to keep that from happening. Kind of the reason I don't like working with speeders or ships. I don't like riding something without the brains to know basic self preservation." As she jested, he couldn't help but laugh. Jumping a bit more ahead, he dropped down to hang by his knees, looking at her. "What can I say, I don't like sitting still when there's just so much going on around me."

 

[Riamah]

"You already said that on Vjun and I agree. Just trusting her not to do anything to me."

That was a little difficult for Ra, the trusting part. Most of her life had been led where people would rather see you dead than live. She had been lucky and not gotten hurt, but that trust was difficult for her to give.

"Sometimes it's nice to just be able to sit and observe what is going on around."

Having been taught to do​ that, it was how she did things. Observed, thought through the issue and then reacted.

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

"Oh she won't. Pretty sure she likes you." Vulpesen's clawed hands dug into the wood of each as he traveled across the forest, his tail flicking and waving behind him when it wasn't being used for balance. "Consider this as me simply getting a different perspective. There's only so much you can see from the beaten path." As Ra started to pass his hanging form, Vulpesen flipped back upwards to follow after her for a few moments. "By the way, that tree about five meters to your right, make sure you stay away from it. Shadow is immune, you I would bet probably aren't." Motioning to the tree in question, it would be a rather large plant, its trunk mostly smooth except for several bulges which ran down its trunk. Around its base, the leaves would occasionally flick as though something were moving underneath. "That would be a teradin."

 

[Riamah]

Letting out a little bit of a chuckle when Vulpesen said Shadow liked her, Ra reached out and pet her a little.

"Well, I like you too."

The comment was meant for both of them and she hoped that was clear. When he mentioned that he viewing the path from a different perspective, she nodded. This being her first time here though, Ra wanted to remain on the safe path for now. The comment could, of course take on a different meaning if she thought about it. And she did, words spoken to or by a sith could often be seen different ways. He had once been down this road and knew this about them.

He had earlier suggested she wasn't sith as she thought and it appeared he was making an alluded suggestion again. Letting out a small grunt, she didn't reply back to that comment. Looking in the direction he pointed out, Ra noticed the lumpy and smooth barked tree. Nodding in reply she raised an eyebrow.

"Are those people inside?"

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen dropped into his secondary joint, using the four legged position to slip through the branches with ease. Circling the tree a bit, he shook his head in response to Ra's question. "Nope. Poison barbed limbs that can flick out to stab and paralyze anyone who gets close. The digestion happens in the leaves. Some sort of digesting enzymes up in the canopy." Once finished with his explanation, Vulpesen continued down the path, enjoying the greenery of the wilds around them.

 

[Riamah]

He answered her question and Ra nodded before speaking.

"And that poison is what you say I'm not immune to and Shadow is?"

Wondering if her Force skills would work, she almost wanted to test and see if she could cleanse the poison out of her system before falling prey to it. She kept this to herself though and didn't say anything.

"That good those aren't people in there at least."

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

"Precisely. Nasty stuff, but the Veran foxes evolved to survive it. Guess that's one of the reasons that they and the zorrens get along so well." Vulpesen dropped down from a branch to land lightly once more on Shadow's back. Once more in front of Ra, he lifted his arms to allow the fox's tails to secure him for the ride. "So, what do you think? Besides the trees that want nothing more than to eat you, its pretty beautiful isn't it?"

@Ra'a'mah

 

[Riamah]

"Are you immune to it as well?"

Pulling her hands back so he could land on the back of Shadow, she replaced when he settled and rested them one on each side of him. For a brief moment, Ra thought about trying to tickle Vulpesen, but decided against it. He probably wouldn't appreciate it.

"It is very nice out here. Nothing like anything I've been in before. Small time farming until my master found me. At least that's what he told me. Then an almost city planet with very little nature...nothing comparable to this. Then he died, I lost my memory and the next six years I thought I had grown up on Coruscant. It's kind of odd, I feel I relate more to the time before I knew what I was than to the girl that grew up sith."

@Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

"'Fraid not. Though, a fast metabolism does mean that it'll wear off a bit faster than it would for most people." Vulpesen's tail flicked back to wrap around Ra as he listened to her speak, enjoying the minor insight into her past. "Sometimes I think I'm still the wide eyed kid staring up at the stars, wanting to see more of the grand galaxy. People grow through the things they face. I guess we're the product of our memories and experiences."

 

[Riamah]

Vulpesen explained the poison would wear off faster if he got hit with it than it would on her and she nodded.

"That makes sense. How fast does it take to kick in?"

Hoping to not find out personally, Ra was still curious. She had to agree with the sentiment of feeling like a kid at times. It seemed that even she was that way. Ra was well travelled, but had never really spent a great amount of time in any one place. At least until she found her home on Vjun. It was her first one and while there was no green there, Ra liked it. She had made that castle into her home and didn't want to give it up.

"Yes and no, with two memories in my mind. One the real one which my master told me and how I became sith even or the one my mind made me think was real. Two different lives with different memories."

She thought about how much to tell him. So far Ra felt he had been transparent with her and she had been with him except when they first met. That had been cleared up though. Deciding to tell him of the one man in her life that had the biggest impact on her even now, her tone changed. It had a touch of sorrow in it. He would be only the second person to know this about her.

"When I was in my early twenties, a man came into my life. He is probably the man that had the move influence on me. To this day, even though I am now sith, I attempt to live by his standards. He took a wild girl off the streets and turned her into a business partner. Passed on what he knew of our ship and how to run small time business. The value of a given word because if that was broken, then we lost business. Our reputation would have ruined, so once I give my word, I don't break it. He was shot in front of me and all I could do was run. Saved a little girl that night though."

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

"Seconds by what I've heard. Though a larger creature may be able to hold it back for a tad longer. Luckily, it can be shaken off in a matter of minutes. Its mostly just a means for the plant to draw you up into the leaves where you can be digested." As Ra started to open up a bit, telling him about her past, Vulpesen tilted his head slightly to hear her better, his ear flicking to face her words. "I'm not sure how I'd react to memories that weren't mine... Last time someone attempted to catch me in an illusion, I ended up seeing threw it and caused a small quake until it broke."

Thinking back to that time, Vulpesen dipped his head and smiled a bit. "I had a teacher back on Nar Shadaa. She taught me how to live on the streets, how to navigate the galaxy in a way that respectable merchants never did. Lost her in a similar way. Rival gang broke in on a deal, she was one of the ones that got hit." It wasn't often that Vulpesen thought about Rita. She had taken up only a small chapter in his life, not even a year. Still, it was some of the best months of his life, and had been just a little before he joined the Jedi Order.

 

[Riamah]

"I don't suppose I would likely be able to react that quickly and get it out of my system before getting pulled up."

​As Ra spoke of her captain, she could tell Vulpesen was interested in hearing what she said.

"Ah nobody attempted to plant false memories in there. Rather my old ones were wiped away or covered and my mind tricked itself into thinking I grew up on Coruscant. The truth I learned in a vision and that I was sith. So in coming to terms with that man taught me and my master before him, I've done my best to remain true to both of them. Makes me that odd sith for sure."

He told her a story of his own past and how he had lost her as well. Just another little detail for Ra to file away and remember.

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

"Probably not. So its a good idea to just avoid the damned things." Upon hearing of how her memories fabricated themselves, he tilted his head in thought. "Interesting... Seems we're once again similar in a way. I learned by my ancestry through a vision in the force... oddly enough, that vision came in a place where the force is hard to find. As for you being an odd sith, I knew that from the moment we met."

 

[Riamah]

"That I will my best to do."

Her words caught his attention and then Vulpesen said some of his own story had been revealed in the same way, but not in a location where it was normal for the Force to be found.

"Where was that?"

Chuckling a little at his last sentence, Ra stuck her tongue out at him in a playful manner. Shrugging slightly, she thought for a moment.

"I just keep the Code close and only apply it to myself."

[member="Vulpesen"]