The Nature Caves of Caelyon V (Lady Kay, but open to all)

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

"Bantha huh?" She mumbled as [member="Kyber Salurra"] spoke to her but then the smirk made her have to hold in a little chuckle. 'Not used to talking to ladies is he.' She thought as she looked him over a little but then the elephant turned into a man. 'Ok this is a little weird..' She then thought as she moved nearer towards [member="Lady Kay"].
Listening in on everything they spoke about she moved closer towards [member="The Page Master"] and then looked towards [member="Kyber Salurra"] again and couldn't help it but giggle at him. "Your going to have to try a lot harder than that buddy...maybe a little booze too, to get your courage up." She then said as she began poking [member="The Page Master"] a little. "What exactly are you?" She then said with a wondering tone as she looked the old man up and down. Granted [member="Sheila"] was by far one of the most interesting sentient beings she had ever met but this little adventure was beginning to pile them up as well.

 

[Sheila]

Sheila was looking at everything and everyone as she was wondering several things but zones, time, bantha's all of it was over her head and given how everything usually was taller then her that was saying a lot. Her smile though while going to sit on Zreame's shoulder so she could focus herself on the next task. "Ahhh what is a bantha?" She raised up her small hand and then moved it to make sure her hair was still prime and proper.

[member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"] [member="Lady Kay"] [member="The Page Master"]

 

[The Page Master]

The Page Master considered [member="Sheila"]'s question and then smiled slyly to himself. He had found a way to get back [member="Kyber Salurra"]'s crass question.

"A bantha is a large, hairy brute; much like the crass man you see over there." He pointed at Kyber for emphasis.

He said to [member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"], "I am whatever you perceive me to be. Even if I were to write a 10 paper thesis about the proof of my existence, it would still be up to you whether I am or am not real..." He looked at her with a blank, serious face. He wondered what her reaction would be if he played the cryptic card too hard, but it felt wrong to do such a thing and leave it at that. So, he continued, saying, "...But to be clear, I am The Page Master!" He smiled, closed his eyes, and lifted his hands to the air, palms face up. A moment later, he lowered his arms, opened his eyes and said to [member="Lady Kay"], "Speaking of perception, only each of you can find value in this...endeavor. Only each of you can decide if all this is worth it....Yes. If you want to think of this as a game, than by all means, play away! Too much work keeps the doctor away, yada yada wise saying. You don't have to stay in one big group, but some things are much better experiencing alongside of fellow friends."

And with that, he jumped out over the water, turned into a walrus,

he swam over to a dark hole where the water turned rapid and disappeared down and inside.

 

[Kay-Larr]

[member="The Page Master"] [member="Sheila"] [member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"] [member="Kyber Salurra"]

Well that was.....odd. And cryptic, very cryptic. The Padawan looked to her fellow travellers. Not one of them looked as though they could hold their breath and swim as well as the Page Master did. But it made her curious as to what was down there. Still, she didn't want to drown just to discover what was there.

Everyone had seemed to have been in agreement with her, even the one guy among their party. So she lifted up her dress to her mid thigh and began to wade across the river to the yellowish tunnel. "Come on fellow explorers!"

 

[Sheila]

[member="Lady Kay"] [member="The Page Master"] [member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"]

She was looking at the water and swimming through it.... she didn't know how to swim and water made her wings to heavy to fly. "Ah... I don't know how to swim." She was looking at Zreame and Kay as she fluttered over and latched onto Kay's neck for protection securing her wings so they could stay safe and dry before she was moving to be careful. "Ah are we really going under?"

 

[Kyber Salurra]

Kyber let the strange man insult him with an unfazed demeanor before watching him fade into a deep recess of the river. He thought of following for a few seconds but decided against it, caring too much about the social opportunity at hand to give chase. After putting to rest his thoughts on the matter he looked back to the woman and almost smacked himself for being so rude. "My name is Kyber Sal'urra." he'd say, pronouncing his surname with a bit of an accent before putting on his best apologetic face (Wow, two emotions in one day? Let's slow down people); "Sorry, but I never asked yours." Kyber tried to sound as non-monotonously as he possibly could, and it was fairly different than his usual tone. Progress. That's some good news.

Kyber would wait for a response before turning back to Lady Kay as she shouted out to her friends and that one guy who quite literally popped in. As she started to travel across the swift stream, Kyber would focus his gaze on the water's source. Kyber's experience told him that if water is running towards you, following it to it's source would most likely lead you to either; a) A waterfall, or b ) the entrance/exit of the cave. However, this is but a dream. Dreams are designed to turn your knowledge against you and make you feel like a fool. And how else could he explain a wonderfully winsome woman with a witty side actually hold a conversation with him? Anyway, what Kyber was trying to get at was the fact that he couldn't trust his knowledge here. That, and the fact that he could see some sort of altar or shrine by the water, further disproving his knowledge. It seemed it would be a lot closer than the end of the orange-lit pathway, and decided a quick look couldn't hurt. Especially if there was something of value there.

Kyber briefly looked back to the other two women before turning his gaze to the horned one. Kyber gave her a wide smile before asking; "You want to go check out the water source? It seems like there's some sort of shrine or altar over there. Could be some sort of artifact or treasure. And it's close, so if the other two feel like going ahead we could always catch up."

// [member="The Page Master"] // [member="Lady Kay"] // [member="Sheila"] // [member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"] //

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

The Cernun couldn't help but just stare at [member="The Page Master"] as he spoke, and confused her a little with how cryptic he was, before turning into a walrus and jumping into the water and disappearing down a dark hole in the water. 'Ok this guy is very weird... but interesting!' She thought with a smile on her lips as she leaned a little forward over the water to get as good a look into the hole as she could, but couldn't see much anyway.
Zreame smiled at [member="Kyber Salurra"] and then nodded to him as he spoke to her. "My name's Zreame Zeibitha and these are Ithrac and Xexmuzi." She then said mentioning her longsword first and then the scimitar at her hips. She had cut up her name a little since she should have included the names of her swords as her middle names but over the few years she had spent in the galaxy she had gotten the hang of introducing herself like that, no other species she had encountered had a similar custom to the Cernun's blood sword one.

Looking at [member="Lady Kay"] when she assumed the leadership role and was trying to get them to follow her she dipped the tip of her tail into the water and a very noticeable shiver ran up her tail and spine. "Way to cold." She could drink it easily but not wade through it, she liked it warm around herself for a reason. When [member="Sheila"] moved to hold onto Kay's neck, Zreame couldn't help but find the little As-Aki adorable finding her a little like a child hugging it's mother for protection.

When Kyber came up with an alternative she thought it over. "mhm all right but two conditions. first you carry me on your shoulders over any water that's as cold as this." She pointed at the water in front of her for emphasis. "And two no funny ideas got that?" She then said as she remembered how some men liked to tug on her tail to get her attention at Cantina's she'd visited. With a wave towards Kay she told her to go on without her, though at a slower pace, and that she'd be right behind her in a bit.

 

[Kyber Salurra]

Kyber allowed his forced smile to grow a bit into that of the genuine variety, excited that the Zreame had agreed to come along with him on his little side venture. After letting the small smile fade, Kyber looked towards the water's source and smiled to himself as he took his flash goggless out of his left leg's cargo pocket. He placed them on properly only for a moment before sliding them up and atop his head to rest them there, just in case he needed them. He then hooked his helmet to the left side of his belt and walked towards the edge of the slow stream. He leaned forward and gauged the river with his eyes alone, not needing to use any tools to help his darkness defying eyes, and was satisfied that it's depth hadn't deviated from the spot of his initial faceplant. Kyber stood himself back up straight and turned his head to face Zreame, but leaving his back facing her; "Hop on my back, the deepest part only looks like it comes to the waist, so you should be fine."

As if to match his words, Kyber shifted both arms behind him as he was speaking, an invitation for her to 'climb aboard!', so to speak, and accept the piggy-back ride.

// [member="The Page Master"] // [member="Lady Kay"] // [member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"] // [member="Sheila"] //

 

[Kay-Larr]

[member="The Page Master"] [member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"] [member="Sheila"] [member="Kyber Salurra"]

Kay smiled a little as Sheila hugged her neck. "It's okay, We're not going under water. We're just crossing it." Sheila could fly, so she hardly needed to worry about getting wet.

As the Padawan moved further across the river, the water got even deeper and she lifted her dress higher as she didn't want it soaking wet. Thankfully though, with the water being in a dark cave and the other two distracted with eachother, Kay's modesty was kept in check. It wasn't long before she reached the other side of the river.

"Easy as pie. Now we can go-" Kay cut herself off as she had turned to look and see that Zreame and Kyber seemed to be heading to the other tunnel. "Hey? The Page Master said that we should stick together...."

 

[Sheila]

[member="Lady Kay"] [member="Kyber Salurra"] [member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"]

Sheila looked at her as she spoke from her neck. "People sloshing through the water, if a little of it gets on my wings I won't be able to fly for hours and I don't know how long I'd be able to keep up with you on the ground." She was clinging there a little more while also looking at the water and the danger that could be the fish trying to eat them or trick them.

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

Zreame smiled at [member="Lady Kay"]. "Actually he didn't he suggested it as the best option but we are just going to take a look at that.... whatever it is." She said pointing at the altar on the other side as she then moved to "climb aboard" [member="Kyber Salurra"]'s back. "You drop me and I'll shave your body completely bald." She then said in a joking manner to him as she wrapped her hands around his neck to make sure she was steady with her legs locked around his lower back. Her tail however moved to lie against her spine as she waited for him to carry her over to the other side. "Just wait a bit if you don't want to be separated!" She then shouted over the water towards [member="Lady Kay"] and @Sheila.

 

[Kyber Salurra]

Kyber waited until the woman had climbed herself onto his back before getting a grip on her thighs and making sure she was secure. After he made sure she was safely above the water's would-be apex, he started trudging through the tributary with Zeibitha in tow. As they moved along the not-so-babbling brook, the hopeless man tried to initiate some sort of conversation with her; "So, Miss Zeibitha, what do you do for a living..?" The question wasn't as exciting or surprising as his earlier ones to be sure, but there had to be some normalcy on this imaginatively impossible and intrepid adventure, no?

The combat clone continued on his schlepp, getting ever more sluggish as the stream thickened toward the shrine, the water almost reaching Zreame as they reached the end, but as promised, Kyber kept her dry by lifting her up behind himself about a foot more to keep her abundant bottom from making contact with the cold waters he himself had the pleasure of experiencing first hand. Twice.

As they reached the shrine the Kashyyyk Native showed off one of his better traits, as he lifted his foot out of the waist-high water and planted it on the altar's edge before using his leg's superior strength to lift them both up with ease onto the platform. After making sure they were both safe on the smooth stone, he slid his hands off the woman's lithe legs, allowing her to depart from her dulcet driver. After completing that task the "romeo" would move to the next one, turning to face the wonderfully winsome woman with a wide smile before offering up his hand as tribute, motioning it towards the altar palm-up, as if it was entreating her to grasp it; "After you, Ma'am."

// [member="The Page Master"] // [member="Lady Kay"] // [member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"] // [member="Sheila"] //

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

Zreame smirked a little at Kyber's question. "Well I'm a chief engineering officer at Armatech." She said with a smirk but then she focused on the water below her, letting her tail slide a little along the surface of the water so she could get used to the cool water's temperature. "What do you do anyway?" She then asked him as she got off his back and waved towards Kay with a big smile.

When he offered her to go first she smiled and walked ahead. "Why don't mind if I do... At least you're certainly a gentleman." She said with a whimsical smirk, though it was true sometimes it seemed like chivilry was completely dead in the galaxy then individuals like Kyber came along and reassured her. She pulled her goggles back onto her eyes and began to look around the altar. "Have to give it to the old guy he sure keeps things interesting~" She said with a little chirp as she knelt in front of the altar to look it over in more detail. "What do you suppose this is for anyway?"

[member="The Page Master"] [member="Kyber Salurra"] @Sheila @Lady Kay

 

[Kyber Salurra]

Kyber had to think about her question for awhile. What did he do for a living? After she passed him up the stairs he answered as he followed; "I do whatever I can to get bye, really. My job title is officially listed as Bounty Hunter. If I could make money without hunting people that'd be preferably, but bounties help fund my salvaging hobby, as it can get quite expensive with the amount of junk I like to refurbish." Kyber sighed briefly before looking up as she walked ahead of him. He couldn't help but catch a glance of her swaying tail --and what it was attached too-- before looking back down quickly, not wishing to be rude. "Actually, now that I think about it, I've made all my equipment myself... the only new equipment I own are my pistols." The rambling man would touch the holster of his pistol and run his hand by it gently as he lost himself in thought. He'd snap back into reality though as they reached the top of the altar before nodding in agreement when Zreame mentioned the old man, then shaking his head as she posed her question. "I don't know. I'm not the religious type..."

Kyber would study the altar's exterior design before looking to the center, wondering what was there -- I think that's is The Page Master's Que to spice up this particular portion of the parable -- as he stood there with Zreame.

// [member="The Page Master"] // [member="Lady Kay"] // [member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"] // [member="Sheila"] //

 

[The Page Master]

As soon as he had ducked out of view, he just as quickly started levitating in open air and had turned himself back into a human. He floated in the emptiness, the water trailing down into further emptiness.

" *Sigh* Some animal forms just aren't as fun as other ones." He sensed that they were walking towards the portal, so he zoomed over and around to that area behind the rock wall. Like a one-way mirror, he could see the four adventurers, but all they would see is a rock wall. The "altar" was not an altar at all. Once they got up to it, they would find a hole in the ground of which bright light emanated from. The intensity of the light would dim considerably upon their arrival. The pit was small: a foot or so taller than [member="Kyber Salurra"] himself.

The edges of the pit were caked over in ice that wouldn't melt and the walls/floor of the pit itself was made of ice. The floor seemed to have light emanating from underneath it. In the middle of the floor inside the ice pit lay a key...

[member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"] | [member="Sheila"] | [member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

Zreame stared down the pit and then drew her Longsword and began poking the tip of it against the ice. "There is a key at the bottom here... any idea of how to get it? or what it leads to?" She then asked [member="Kyber Salurra"] as she scratched her head a little, for some reason she stared at the wall that [member="The Page Master"] was behind. Motioning towards [member="Sheila"] and [member="Lady Kay"] she shouted towards them. "Hey Kay and Goldie can either of you lift something without touching it? there's a key here that might come in handy later!" She shouted towards them as she took a seat on the ice and began poking the ice with the tip of her sword against the ice, possibly chipping away at it enough to get d through it.

 

[Sheila]

Sheila was still clinging in the water but she was moving and listening as Zreame asked about getting something without touching it and she glowed a little brighter while she was getting up some courage to fly over and landed on her shoulder while she shivered. "Nope nope nope... cold." Her wings moved clinging to her back almost and she was moving to keep them warm and from getting cold near the ice. "To cold."

[member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"] [member="The Page Master"] [member="Kyber Salurra"] [member="Lady Kay"]

 

[The Page Master]

As [member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"] would poke at the ice, she would find that it was REALLY quite solid. So solid, in fact, that she figured that she could have a dance party (or her species' equivalent) on it. I mean, that ice was THICK. Even the warmth from her body wasn't causing it to melt from underneath her. Wow, that ice was sturdy! Nothing could possibly break that ice!...

 

[Kyber Salurra]

Kyber sighed and scratched his chin as he pondered what he could do to retrieve the key. In the end he thought no other way would work better than to just jump down and retrieve it himself. So, without a single thought in reserve he sat at the edge of the hole and looked down as he spoke to Zreame "I'll get it. Shouldn't be too hard a task. Just relax up here." The daringly idiotic man would give her a quick glance and a wide smile before turning back and sliding down into the hole. If everything went according to plan up to then he'd pick up the key and study it, as well as the light at the bottom of the pit before placing the key in one of his various cargo pockets. If nothing sinister had happened to him up to that point --which would be a miracle-- Kyber would simply crouch down, and with all of his strength hop up so his arms could reach their full wingspan at the top of the hole. He'd hold himself stationary before slowly lifting his body up and out of the pit, thrusting his legs outwards as soon as he had the room to do so, officially letting him escape the icy hole. However, this is all if each step goes according to plan. The likelihood of that happening is all based on The Page Master. So, probably not that much of a chance. At least he had Zreame with him there, right? Well, if he did fall Kyber doubted Zreame had any spare rope on her. Or the fact that he'd survive.

// [member="The Page Master"] // [member="Lady Kay"] // [member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"] // [member="Sheila"] //

 

[Kay-Larr]

[member="The Page Master"] [member="Sheila"] [member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"] [member="Kyber Salurra"]

Kay watched as their little even split of people had turned into her alone and the others together in the other pathway. She looked behind her to the path with the nice and warm looking yellow light, and then to where the others were. Well. Might as well join the crowd. There was safety in numbers afterall.

She walked along the side of the river to the blue cave, glad that she didn't have to cross the water again, and almost slipped on the ice. Kay almost piped up that she could levitate the small key, but then Kyber jumped into it. So there was no need. She glanced around the walls of the tunnel, looking for a doorway or something that the key could be used for.