The Pathfinder Chronicles and stuff

[Micah Talith]

[member="Vexen"]

Sometimes, Micah could see the small subtle mannerisms the Defel would make that reminded him of his sisters. Perhaps that was just women in general regardless of the species. Vexen was growing up, getting older. She wasn't a pup anymore. No, soon enough she'll be a woman grown.

That brought a smile to his face.

"I can do so now, seeing as you'll likely get distracted by whatever manner of food Avalore might give you." He'd heard that there was some sort of homestead where Jace was prone to set his bunk at.

He plucked a small flexible measuring tape he'd been playing with earlier from the console, jiggling it in his hands.

"Shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes or so."

 

[Vexen]

[member="Micah Talith"]

“Alrigh’ then,” Vexen replied, standing back up again and holding her arms out. She didn’t really get clothes. She knew the pasty little humans needed them or else they’d get the chills, but she didn’t quite understand the taboo about not being in clothes when the weather was warm. Well, not that Micah bothered some mornings on the ship.

The only thing she’d even much worn was a fairly brightly coloured bandolier. Rather than having a requirement to carry more things, Vexen liked to wear it sometimes simply because it made her more apparent to those species that couldn’t see in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum. She stood out easy enough in the daylight as a silhouette of absolute inky black, but in the evening she could give people quite a fright if they didn’t have their wits about them.

 

[Micah Talith]

Micah gave a snicker.

"Don't act as if it is the end of the galaxy there." he chuckled, coming to his feet. Another slight juggle of the measuring tape and he came to a stop beside the Defel. He might be a joker, but he meant it in good humor.

"You'll only have to wear it if we head off into places that will require a bit more protection." he assured her, "Think of how you'll be protecting your fur then." he unfurled the tape, still giving her a cheeky grin as he began on her left side.

"I'll check out my stores," He told her, taking measurements and imprinting them to memory. Shoulder to wrist. The expanse of her torso. Legs too. A thought came to her.

"Terentatek is good. But I think I can get the same concept of it if we go with a Taozin Nodule liner... Kinda like the Cloak of Aatrox I made." that was so that he could still imbue the armor with something like Force Scattering. Maybe something to boost her speed.

[member="Vexen"]

 

[Vexen]

[member="Micah Talith"]

Vexen pulled an amused expression as he took her measurements. He was getting into his work again. She loved it when he started working on a concept again. It was in some respects counterbalanced by the difficult times. When the materials failed to respond to his wishes, when his designs outright refused to come to fruition. Not a lot took the wind out of his stride however, and he was still young. Vexen knew that for how worldly he seemed to her, he still had relatives and peers for more experienced in his trade.

“Those the cloaks you and your sisters all have?” she asked. She knew all too well the sensation of him donning the garment and his presence in the Force evading her grasp. Oh she was always connected to him in some manner, their bond was too strong for that, but when he wore that he seemed sort of ‘fuzzy’ when she focused on him, compared to another she could sense. Her measurements taken, she stepped into line behind him to follow him to find materials.

 

[Micah Talith]

Bright orange eyes would regard [member="Vexen"] with pride, a cheeky grin spliting his face in two. "Aye, those cloaks. I think I can do the same with your armor." He crouched down to a kneel, moving his hands from her hip down to her paw. It was a series of repetitive motions. He took into consideration her tail, what he would have to do to ensure that she had plenty of mobility.

There was a slight furrow between his brows. He was in the thick of design, mind racing from one item to the next. That dark mop of wayward locks fell over his face, boyish features seemingly returning despite the scruff that lined his jaw.

"I'd make you a cloak, but I doubt you'd want to feel more burdened?"

 

[Vexen]

[member="Micah Talith"]

Vexen thought about this few a few moments as he finished scrawling down the measurements. If there was an item of clothing she quite liked aesthetically, it would probably be a cloak. But they weren’t discussing regular wear. They were talking about garments to wear into battle. Cloaks were so easy to catch on protrusions. On top of that she was relatively agile when moving around. Tumbling and leaping would definitely be hindered by a cloak. And what was the point of having serious effort put into one if she was liable to discard it at the first opportunity?

“No, I don’t think a cloak,” she said carefully.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Vexen"]

“Thought so.” the Talith would add, although he flashed a grin up at her. “But I can make you a cloak for any other time if you like.” he’d say with that typical grin of his. Taking a last few measurements, he gave a small nod.

“That should be it.” A frown drew over his face. “Are you going to want something to cover your paws?” he could get her gloves of some sort. Make her the bracers that he had for his sisters as well.

Or was he getting too into it already?

 

[Vexen]

[member="Micah Talith"]

There wasn't even much pause over this one. "No, no I don't think so." Paws were good for many things. Soft pads to help her feel her surroundings in the perfect dark, claws they could get a good grip on something or - in extreme cases - be used to fend someone off.

"Sooo..." she started. This had been his idea really, not hers. Now that he'd started taking measurements however, her own interest had started to build. "How long will it take to make? Wassit going to look like?"

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Vexen"]

Micah gave her a thumbs up. Okay, no cloak!

How long? His expressive face would flex as he mulled this over. Her small size. Depending on the materials. The leather. It would take at least twenty four hours for him to imbue it with a particular ability. There wasn't going to be any sort of metal this time around, and if all he had to do was cure and rub it down with Taozin Nodules...

"A week? Less if we managed to get all the materials we need." he told her, spooling up the measuring tape. "I'll look at what supplies we have. If we need to get anything in particular, that will require us to do a bit of hunting." He flashed her a brief smirk, bright citrine eyes glowing.

"But I doubt we'd be that put out by it. "

He spent the bulk of his time when he could at Marrow & Illskins, the series of shops his uncle oversaw. The bulk of Micah's creations were sold there, and whatever they had left from any hunt or wander was brought back to be told at the shop. It was one way to get a flow of credits that made Micah feel as if he were doing something productive.

If anything, it also allowed him to expand and help out the shop with whatever supplies they would require.

 

[Vexen]

[member="Micah Talith"]

The anticipation that had glimmers in her eye was tempered by a suspicious narrowing. Sometimes their ideas of 'fun' didn't quite align.

"What exactly would we need to hunt?" she asked. Always the things that needed to be hunted to create the curios Micah and some of his extended family traded in were dangerous, deadly and rare.

 

[Micah Talith]

That sly smile came up over the Talith's lips.

"Taozin." came his rather chipper elaboration. Taozin were giant annelids with many arms and legs native to the jungle moon of Va'art. They were capable of spitting silken webbing to entrap its prey, and a taozins' natural shell armor was almost completely resistant to blasters and lightsabers. As Force-sensitive creatures, taozin could interfere with the sense abilities of Force-sensitives, making them appear invisible in the Force.

Which is exactly why they would need to go nab one. A good twenty times the size of the Talith.... it was going to be interesting to say the least.

"Get to practice some of those moves of yours." he grinned.

[member="Vexen"]

 

[Vexen]

[member="Micah Talith"]

Vexen shot Micah a rather withering expression and sighed quite deliberately. "Alrigh' if you're grinning like tha' it means this 'Taozin' is gonna be some horrible beast that's as likely to eat us as look at us?"

Sometimes she despaired as his constantly optimistic attitude. Caution was far too well drilled into her psyche. Yet she also desperately needed that happy-go-lucky demeanour. It was as necessary for her rehabilitation as the food her put before her.

She couldn't imagine what it would be like to meet a version of herself that had remained on that hardship - if she would have even survived this long. Such an instinctive creature back then, her own voice had sounded alien to her. Would she have grown even more feral over time? It didn't bear thinking about really.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Vexen"]

"It is highly probable." He said, drawing back up to wind up the measuring tape between his hands. The cheery outlook would not waiver. "High probability of harm. Low chance of success." the twin cadmium of his laughing eyes shone with an almost ethereal glow then.

"Why not?" he'd tease. His light-hearted manner did not mean he did not understand the seriousness of the matter. Being trained by his father and uncle, as well as living in the wilds of Onderon with the Beast Riders with his Oma gave him a clarity about the situation. Going on this hunt meant that they would take their precautions, and do it right.

"It will be good practice."

 

[Vexen]

[member="Micah Talith"]

Vexen cocked her head to one side curiously. "Tell me about it," she said earnestly. "Stun batons and dart guns dun' tend to do much to any of the things you go chasing to make trinkets."

She pulled up a chair and sat down, watching him attentively.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Vexen"]

He gave a bark of laughter.

“You’ll do fine. You always do.” He assured her. Her natural hunting and tracking abilities were some of her best. Granted, a Taozin was a bit larger than you average Nerf.

“I’ll set a course for the planet. We should be there within a day or so.” He plopped himself down upon the pilot seat, more like sprawled really. The man was ever one sticking to childish light-heartedness.

“While we can’t directly track it with the Force, it will be a good opportunity to test your skills out with other creatures of similar abilities -- be they of four legs or two.”

It was then that his head suddenly perked.
“So what’s for dinner?”

 

[Vexen]

[member="Micah Talith"]

"Bits," he replied simply, easing herself back into the copilot's chair. She drew her knees up to her chest, long arms wrapped around them. Then she plonked her chin down on the top of them.

"Jus' had steak. There's some dried meats and bread and bits," she elaborated. "Some of that stew in the freezer too if you wan'."

She was still sore from the exertion earlier. It felt good to push herself, felt good to have goals. Vexen could handle routine and discipline. But it was too easy to fall into the same routine, she needed new challenges. This was what she told herself before asking the next question.

"What planet we going to then and where does this thing live?" she asked. If she didn't have the Force to track, she'd be left with sight and smell. The former depended on what kind of terrain they'd be moving through, the latter required having a scent to follow in the first place.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Vexen"]

"I'll have to give the soup a reheat," he mentioned, leaning forward towards the navigation array. The Talith may not have the best luck when it came to piloting, but navigating was another affair. He had to thank Mara for that. It was her doing that had taught Micah the skills of navigating and instinctive astrogation. If it hadn't been for her... that one time he and [member="Aela Talith"] had become lost in the transitory mists would have likely had a far more different ending.

"Va'rat." he informed her, his left hand running through the messy mop of brown hair. The shaggy waves would appear no different than the tousled look he had before, but at the very least it pushed the too long bangs away from his face. He was in desperate need of a haircut, but the man was a bit stubborn when it came to actually doing so.

"It's in the Mid-Rim." twin shinning copper eyes would dart over to the Defel with that same amusement they always held. "The planet Va'arat has a jungle moon dubbed... The Jungle moon of Va'rat." he gave a small snerk of his lips.

"They weren't quite creative at its christening apparently."

 

[Vexen]

[member="Micah Talith"]

"I look forward to landing at the spaceport of The Spaceport of Va'rat then," she replied. She was momentarily distracted by the thought that if Micah actually got his hair cut properly, he would spend less time playing with his hair and have more time to scratch her properly behind the ears.

"So this thing lives in the jungle then?" she asked, mind returning to the subject at hand.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Vexen"]

"And makes its home in tunnels." he told her, elaborating more. "Think of a centipede the size of a small Krayt Dragon, and you have a Taozin." Micah told Vex. Truth be told, while Micah may joke about it, they had to be careful. Not just anyone could simply say, 'We are going out to hunt a Taozin today.'

Well, okay, Micah had, but he had said it knowing what they were going into.

"We can't track it through the Force, it is the reason why we want its leather nodules." he would explain. " But we can do so the old fashion way."

Then it was a matter of setting a trap and managing to knock it out.

 

[Vexen]

[member="Micah Talith"]

Vexen simply nodded stoically at that. Yet micah would feel a quick flutter of fear down their Force Bond. It wasn't the tunnels that bothered her. Unbeknownst to the little Defel, her entire species lived underground. She felt perfectly at home in small, dark shelters. It was why, for the first year of living with Micah, she'd lived in a little alcove out if the way in the engine bay. Partially that was because the constant hum of engines reminded her of the hardship.

"Tracks it's movements, plant some mines and drag it up with some kind of lifter when they go off?" she mused.