Tied Together With A Smile

[Jamie Pyne]

"Okay, so..." She began, pushing away a wide reaching branch that blocked the path, and ducking beneath another, while also climbing over a small log just a few feet ahead of them. "Do things your own way then. Do you really need to be employed by a government, planetary or galactic, to do what you've been doing? Does that really matter so much?"

Jamie shrugged, "I intend to protect Naboo. But I don't need my position there, or the backing of another government to do it." She did it simply because it was her home and she felt obligated. Fancy titles and secret bases meant little if she couldn't do exactly what it was she had originally set out to do. If Aela's heart simply wasn't in the NJO or the SIS anymore, why stick around?

"I'm just saying there are other options than all in or all out."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She considered the words of her apprentice for a moment.

"The issue is fighting takes money." That was something obvious to the both of them, after all she and Jamie were both ludicrously wealthy, however. "My family is rich, I'm not. While my parents love me they have never really...supported this."

She motioned to...herself. "Jedi Stuff."

Aela had no other way of putting it.

"They don't like the idea of me sacrificing my life for others and never giving myself a chance to live." That was how her father had always explained it, why he had always disapproved of her activities with the New Jedi Order and before that the Covenant. "I don't think they'd give me any money if they knew I was fighting the Sith with it."

At least she assumed.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I suppose you could always steal from the Sith to fund your crusade against them."

There were hardly a shortage of people laundering credits for crime lords, Sith, and others that could stand to lose a bit of their income for the good of the galaxy. If they weren't laundering, they were simply outright flaunting their ill-gotten credits in the open, with law enforcement unable to step in due to fear of reprisal, such as Coruscant, or that their enforcers were corrupt themselves.

"It would make things harder, but hardly impossible I assume."

Jamie reached her hand back, feeling for the camera bag that was latched to the side of the larger bag on her back. Unhooking it she passed it over to Aela.

"Here, you can use it if you want."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She shrugged. "That doesn't seem right."

Absent minded she took the Camera from Jamie, inspecting it as though it weren't even there.

"I don't know." She said shaking her head. "There has to be some sort of mid-point. Something that I can do that won't drive me crazy with boredom but...will still let me feel good about what I do."

It wouldn't be easy, Aela knew that, but...there had to be something. She frowned for a moment, then finally looked down at the camera that Jamie had put into her hands. She gave the girl a confused look, then a small smile.

"Oh is this where we started your modeling career?" Aela grinned.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie shrugged. "You're trying to find the perfect solution to every problem, Aela. Be it Sith or boys." There wasn't really a teasing tone to her voice that time. It was true, she always wanted to take the perfect path, the middle ground that achieved her goal and without compromising in relatively any way. What she wanted was an ideal situation in every situation. It just wasn't realistic.

"You're going to need to concede that it won't always be as simple as finding a perfect solution, eventually."

The blonde stopped mid-step as Aela spoke regarding the photos. "What?" She'd ask, turning back to face her, realizing she had left a number of photos on the camera from when she tried on clothes during a number of shopping trips.

"Oh, I just like to see if they look cute before I buy them! Be quiet you."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Uh huh." Aela said as she turned on the cameras view function, pointing it up towards the trees.

She gave out a whistle.

"Wow this thing really is fancy." This was the first time she'd ever actually gotten to use Jamie's Camera. She cycled through some of the modes as they walked, letting out a sort of stun gasped as she turned on the x-ray function. "Where the heck did you get this thing?"

Aela snapped a picture of a nearby set of trees, spotting a birds nest hidden behind several branches. "This is amazing!"

The Jedi Marshall was stunned.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Back home." She said, turning once more to see Aela fiddling with the settings. "I don't think it was supposed to be for sale."

Definitely not.

"I think the shop keeper may have made a mistake and put the wrong camera in the box, or received the wrong camera somehow and didn't notice."

The whole 'military prototype' functionality behind it was likely the giveaway there. The flash function alone was enough to stop a person in their tracks and temporarily blind them. The zoom function was incredible to say the least, and the resolution as well as view modes were all telling of a camera not meant for the hands of a civilian.

Still, there it was.

"It's definitely neat."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"That's crazy." Aela said as she snapped another picture.

"Hey look." The Jedi Marshall turned the camera around to show Jamie the viewer. "I can see how bony your butt is even through the backpack."

She let out a laugh.

The camera really was amazing, way out of spec to what anyone like she or Jamie should be carrying around. She wondered briefly how long the thing would last. If it was some kind of military prototype then it likely hadn't completed production, that either meant it was more sensitive or would need some maintenance eventually. Her head shook from side to side and she returned the camera to her hands, switching the mode back to normal as they continued up to the path.

"What other neat stuff have you been hiding from me?" Aela asked with a smile.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie stopped again on a slight incline up the hill they were traveling and turned completely around, fingers looped beneath the straps of her bag to glare at Aela. She hadn't found the comment amusing. "My butt is not bony." She declared with indignation. The blonde pointed toward Aela, "And you're not much bigger than me either!" She let out an audible hmph as she turned back around and stamped her feet up the hill.

Aela had been with her when she acquired that Force artifact. That was really the only other interesting trinket she'd found.

"As for your other question. Nothing. I don't think anyway."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She smiled as she followed along with her Padawan. "When the Alliance first started."

That was some years ago now, seemed like an age.

"Vanir Technologies used to supply us with all sorts of gadgets." Those had been quite interesting days. Every battle she would have some new sort of armor or something else neat that she could play around with. "They made this glove that mimicked the use of the force."

She wasn't sure if Jamie had ever seen it. "Used tractor beams."

Technology had always been more Kaili's department than her own, but she could appreciate something neat when she found it.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie had never seen such a device. While the Alliance was off fighting the Sith on Coruscant Jamie was still studying ethics, civics, and law, among other things. Perhaps Aela had forgotten just how out of the loop Jamie was when it came to such things.

"That sounds pretty neat." She would have liked to have seen some of the gadgets, but it was just before her time.

Aela was the only real introduction to this sort of lifestyle. Jamie had just been bouncing around between places here and there before she met Aela.

"Who knows, maybe you'll find some kind of ancient alien tech floating in the water at the bottom of the cave."

Highly unlikely, given that others had already explored the cave, but it was still a funny thought.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Maybe." She contended.

They had a way of stumbling onto things like that, so the idea wasn't too far fetched. First they had found the bracelets on Bastion, then they had found that odd crystal orb on Borleias. All three of the artifacts had turned out to be handy in someways, though the bracelets had some...annoying qualities late at night.

"We have found some pretty neat stuff before." Aela reminded Jamie. "Like these things."

She waggled her hand to show off the bracelet, keeping the other on the camera.

Neither of them knew exactly where they had come from still, but they had already found them more than useful once. Aela had been able to save Jamie's life because of it. When Vrak had first taken her she'd sensed her padawan go unconscious and because of the link she'd managed to track her padawan down in a matter of hours. Without it? There was no telling what would've happened.

"I wouldn't mind finding a hypergate." She joked as they crested a small ridge.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie gave an assertive nod. The bracelets had absolutely been a life saver. Literally, saved her life. Though that was something Aela had become accustomed to doing on a near regular basis in recent past. Jamie had a way of getting into tight spots, often needing rescue. And for all the teasing, ragging, and joking the two did, Aela always came to her side when it truly mattered without complaint or hesitation.

She owed Aela her life, and more.

"Agreed," another nod. "We have had some pretty fortunate luck with things in that aspect."

The hill eventually evened out, allowing the walk to become a bit easier now that the incline was over. They had made it about half way.

"But we've also found Terentateks. So it hasn't all been treasure."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"It was just one." Aela said to her apprentice, looking up at the forest with interest. A few times she held up the camera, taking a picture of a pair of birds or something else that she found interesting. Each time she gave whatever it was a small smile, as if they would somehow enjoy being photographed.

She let out a breath as the hill evened out.

"Not even that big of a deal." She told her padawan. "It was napping."

The Terentatek in Freedon Nadds tomb had been entirely unexpected, mostly because those creatures didn't exactly just 'show up' without someone having put it there. She had alerted her grandmother to the creatures presence, and by now she had no doubt Quietus had killed and skinned it, but she still couldn't help but wonder who had brought the creature there in the first place. "What are you going to do when we go to Korriban?"

She stopped suddenly.

"Oops." That was supposed to have been a surprise.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The same mocking imitation of her lips followed, It was napping. "We still found it! And one is plenty!"

For the briefest moment her mind raced back to the Alliance outpost with those other...things. And the one big thing. She swallowed, still having been unsure as to what exactly they were. Truthfully those terrified her more than the Terentateks. She hadn't slept well for days following that little excursion. The constantly returning nightmares tormented her sleep for weeks after. Even once in a while she still got them.

Hopefully they were all dead.

"When we go to Korri--Wait....What?"

Again the blonde stopped while Aela was busy snapping photos. "You're taking me to Korriban?!"

The smile on her face could break a mirror.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Ehhhhhhhhhhh." Aela said, frowning slightly. "Maybe not now."

She briefly flashed Jamie a smile.

Jamie had wanted to go to Korriban pretty much...since they'd known one another. Aela had always thought it would be too dangerous for her apprentice, but things had changed since then. Not only was Jamie more calm and controlled, but Aela now had insight into Jamie herself.

Through the bracelets she could sense and get a feeling for Jamie was doing, meaning that if things started to run away from the both of them while on Korriban she could better aid her padawan. With those two things combined...well she had intended to indulge Jamie in her need to explore the ancient Sith Ruins. "It was supposed to have been a surprise."

She explained.

"But you ruined it." Nevermind the fact that it was Aela's fault.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

A surprising amount of air drew into her lungs in a gasp of excitement. The girl slid the backpack from her shoulders, letting it slide down her arms and to the ground. "REALLY!?" She sounded like a kid back home who heard they were able to skip school and go to one of the festival parades. "WE'RE GOING TO GO?!"

Her stomach welled with excitement, her voice becoming nearly squeaky.

The blonde let out a boisterous laugh, running towards Aela and jump-hugging the girl. Her arms locked around Aela's neck, threatening to take her to the ground with the added unbalanced weight of the girl on her, but she didn't have a care in the galaxy. Even if Aela toppled to the ground Jamie would continue laughing with excitement.

"You're the best!"

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela waved her arms, clutching the camera as tightly as she could and bringing her leg back to support herself just in time to stop them both from tumbling to the ground. "Hey!"

The Marshall said as she swung herself, trying to keep on her feet.

"Careful!" She waved one more time, finally managing to regain her balance. "I'm holding your camera!"

Nothing in the backpack was all that valuable, or breakable, but the camera most certainly was. Aela had a lot of regard for other peoples things, and she wasn't about to let one of Jamie's prized possessions smash into a thousand bits because of a bit of excitement.

"Yes we're going." She had planned the trip for after Jamie officially held the title of Knight. They would take a ship and a detachment of 5th Legion soldiers. The former would be a military vessel, and the latter would tag along because Aela was incredibly weary of what could be found on that planets surface.

If she was going, then she'd be prepared.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

It was incredibly difficult to contain her excitement, even with Aela's concern and scolding. The blonde drew back, setting her feet back on the ground and releasing the Jedi. If Aela didn't want that kind of excitement though, she would have been better served keeping her mouth closed about the subject. This had been one of Jamie's biggest desires for as long as she could remember. And with Aela's revealing her intent to take her student there, Jamie was a bit over excited.

"Sorry." She said, finally settling down, returning to pick up her backpack and slip the bag back over her shoulders. "That's what you get."

Jamie stuck out her tongue. "For telling me something like that. But thanks for not dropping my camera."

That would have sucked.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Well." Aela told her Padawan. "Let's try to keep a bit of that control we'll need on Korriban."[/color[

She suggested with a smile.

"We'll go in a week or two, after we come back from Lujo." This trip wasn't the same as any of their other ones of course, even Dxun. The planet was dangerous in a wholly different way than any other they had ever gone too. Jedi had walked the surface of Korriban before of course, they had even done so unscathed, but there was still an extreme amount of danger to even coming near the corrupted world, especially as of late.

"This is no trip for fun." She said as they set off again. "Korriban is dangerous in it's own way."

She briefly glanced towards the wound that Jamie had received from Vrak. "It can be very, very bad for people like us."