Unexpected Meetings

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

Val let out a curse as the girl rounded on the machine, watching as the tried to use the force to knock the thing away. It wobbled for a moment, and to his surprise ground into the dirt besides it. His eyebrows shot up as it dug a small ravine within the earth, eventually crashing into a nearby tree and coming to a halt.

”Oh.” He said quietly, only to very quickly close his mouth. Behind the tank came a small army of men, Pirates by the look of them. Each one was holding a blaster or vibro-blade, and behind them came another set of hover-tanks. Another curse escaped his lips, and briefly he wondered what kind of pirates these people were.

Without asking, Val came up behind Taheera and snatched her off the ground.

His arm looped around her stomach, hand gently cupping her behind as he tugged her off her feet and threw her over his shoulder. ”Sorry.”

Without letting her object Val broke out into a sprint.

He moved almost impossibly quickly, breaking out into a dash that would have most short-distance runners question their abilities. His heart pumped, adrenaline went through the roof, and all he could think about was getting away. Blaster fire began to soar around the both of them, searing the earth and burning the the trees as they passed back into the forest.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Her whoop of triumph never made it past her throat. She felt an arm around her waist. "Hey!" She yelped. Then a hand on her...butt?!

"HEY!" Feet left the ground and she was chucked over his shoulder. Stang, he was tall. Body bounced on his shoulder as he sprinted. Myrtle-ellipses narrowed at the army of pirates behind them. Who were these guys?!

Palm raised as a force bubble jumped to life - just a plane, flattened wall at their backs. Blaster bolts thudded against it. Other hand reached for the comm at her hip. She checked the channel even as the forest flew by. It would go right to the bothan. "This is Taheera," teeth bit down on her tongue and the coppery taste of blood filled her mouth. She spit. "Evacuate the village. There's an army up here. We'll try to buy you as much time as possible. Over."

They'd have a chance. That's all she could give them. Maybe the pirates would keep after her and Val instead.

Her force bubble faltered. She could feel the drain of using so much of the force begin to seep into her bones. There was always a cost. But the shots were getting further and fewer between. She smacked Val's back, pretty close to his butt.

"Put me down; we have to go back!"

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

He ran for a few more steps, though in truth they were more like leaps. Eventually however, as her hand landed square on his back he managed to stumble to a stop. His feet smashed into theg round, dragging for a few seconds until he put up a hand and braced himself against a tree. He stopped, his other hand coming up so Taheera didn't go flying from his shoulder.

"Alright, alright." Val said quietly, his chest rising and falling.

Before she could hit him anymore, and before he got yelled at again, Val scooped Taheera off of his shoulder, his hands on her hips as he placed her back onto the ground. It was clear that he was tired, his face looked a little gaunt, his skin was slick with sweat, and his voice was more than a bit breathy. There was no telling how far they had come, but it didn't appear that the Pirates that had been chasing them were anywhere close to near anymore.

"We don't have to go back." He said breathlessly. "Just...give me the comm."

He knew how pirates thought, god did he ever. "We need to lure them away from the village."

For now he kept the complement about how nice her butt was to himself.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

A palm went out to brace herself on the rough bark of a tree. A questioning look went to Val before she tossed him the comm. Her own face was drawn. Blood dripped from her chin. She spit some more from her mouth.

"Exactly. But how do we do that if they can't even see us as bait?"

Legs trembled. She sagged against a tree. Keen healer's eye looked Val up and down. "How did you run like that? That fast?" She didn't think it was the force. She would've sensed something. Was he a hybrid? He looked near human but she wasn't sure. She was curious.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

"They saw the direction we went in, that should be enough." If they were in any way competent at least. He shifted slightly and looked away from her for a moment, regarding the direction they had come from. He had left plenty of tracks, heavy boot prints, blood, broken branches, it should be enough for any experienced tracker to find them. Plus...with what he was about to do they likely had plenty of motivation to come after them, he only hoped to keep their attention long enough.

Val cleared his throat, then flipped the comm back to it's original station. [Well, I see pirates are as useless as ever. Good to know I can still kill three of your men and then get away from the army you have rolling. Have fun destroying that little village, I'm leaving this world.]

Before he even had time to hang up the comm a voice erupted from it. At first he couldn't quite tell what he was saying, but almost immediately a slur of curse words, insults, threats, and other nastiness came through quite clearly. He looked down at the girl and perked an eyebrow, then took the comm into his fist. There was a loud crunch noise as the device was crushed into smithereens. He then took the rest of it and tossed it as far as he could, sending it sailing a dozen or so meters before it fell down among the trees.

"That takes care of that." He said simply. "They'll chase us for a day or so at least, village won't go anywhere."

Val turned again, squatting slightly so that he could look her in the eye. His hand moved to tuck some of her hair behind her ear, eyes darting to a small wound on her forehead. "I've always been that fast."

It was a simple answer, and a truthful one.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Eyes widened slightly as the device was crushed like it was mere sandstone and tossed away. Who was this guy?!?! "I hope you're right," just as she finished the sentence he was there. Right THERE. His fingertips brushed against her dirt-smudged ear.

Ellipses of green fire stared back. "Don't," she spoke quietly. "Don't do that." For a half second, she remained frozen and unmoving from his close proximity. Ear tingled from where his fingertips just were. There was a loud crack behind Val. Probably an animal in the woods. Whether he looked or not, she took advantage of the distraction and slipped away.

Fingers counted in the air. "So, let me get this straight. We have a murderous group of pirates chasing us. We have to stay away from the village. We have no supplies, food, or water, or your armor."

A final finger ticked in the air. "And it will be dark soon." Lighting a fire would be out unless they found a cave. She sunk down onto a mossed covered stone and wiped the blood off her chin.

"Perfect."

She had been in worse situations before. Hadn't she?

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

He perked an eyebrow, though said nothing to her as she slipped away. The gesture of course hadn’t been romantic, rather he had been checking the wound on her head. He had told her earlier not to worry about healing him, but now that they were out here in the wild, things were different. He suspected that he would be doing most of the killing, and thus he would be in the most danger.

She would need to heal him sooner or later, and if she herself was injured...well then she was useless. Not to mention the fact that if she was suffering from blood loss or a concussion it would make running harder.

”Pirate’s by their very nature aren’t very good at ground operations.” Something he had learned in the planetary defense forces. ”They’ll hunt us, but they’ll be slow and reckless about it. That will give us plenty of opportunity to turn the tide towards us.”

Small consolation prize really, they were still far outnumbered. ”We can hunt for food, and the ridge will provide us with shelter.”

What troubled him, in truth, was not that they were being chased, more what was chasing them. The pirates had brought a veritable army to this place...but why? All that was here was a local village that Val couldn’t even remember the name of. Why would pirates care? Was there something else valuable here? He frowned and slowly wandered over towards Taheera, once again squatting down in front of her. This time he didn’t move to touch her however.

”Cheer up.” He said with a smile. ”As long as they don’t catch us, we keep everyone in the village safe.”

Jedi liked keeping people safe, right?

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

She wiped the blood from her chin and hands on her shirt, swallowing the rest from her mouth. "Yeah. As long as they don't catch us." The healer regarded the warrior silently.

"Even if they do catch us. I'm not going to let them hurt that village." At least, until her dying breath. A small, tired smile crept on her lips. "But we won't have to worry about that with your running." Hands went to her thighs and she stood, surveying the forest.

"We should find a source of water. There should be a river around here." Eyes fell back on Val. "But are you okay? Did you get hit with anything during our retreat?" She was already tracking across his body, looking for any signs of serious injury.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

”The river will be good.” He said simply, watching as her eyes folded over him in inspection. It was clear that she was searching him for injury, but most of the cuts on his body were superficial, and the bruises would heal within a few hours, they always did.

”I’m good.” Val said. ”Though, if you want to take a closer look it’ll have to wait for tonight. Can’t very well strip right here.”

He smirked.

Humor was always good in a situation like this. That was something else the PDF had taught him, always try to look on the brighter side of things, because when you stared into the darkness for too long...you stopped trying. Right now there was definitely a bit of darkness in front of them. He shifted before she could answer, standing up and turning away from her.

”Once we find the river we’ll follow it up to the mountains, that’s where they came from and if they think we’re headed towards their own camp...well they’re more likely to follow.” It was a game of keep away, simple as that.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Very funny. Yours wouldn't be the first I've seen. Or the last." She smirked. It obviously came with the territory of being a healer. She wasn't one to blush at a naked body.

Stealing a moment, she made sure there wasn't any lingering bacteria in the gash on her face with the force. She didn't expend any energy to heal it, though. She knew she needed to save her strength for bigger issues that might come. She wasn't a superficial girl, so scarring wasn't on her mind as a problem.

Pulling her hand away from her face, she picked up the speed to catch up. Camping. The outdoors? She loved it. But she usually had a bedroll. Thanks to field medic training, she knew enough to survivor. She wasn't worried about that.

They just needed water, food, shelter, and warmth. She was more worried about the hunter traps they might run into along the way.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

”Never knew Jedi were so prolific.” Val said as she caught up to him, slowing his step just slightly so that she wouldn’t fall behind.

The forest wasn’t sparse, trees stood only a few feet from one another, thick roots sprouted from the ground, the canopy itself seemed to stretch over the entire sky. It was terrestrial, and already Val could feel a chill on the air as the sun was beginning to set. He frowned for a moment as he looked about, ears seemingly twitching as he listened for a moment. After a few seconds he pointed towards the west.

”There.” The sound of flowing water was somewhat evident, at least to him.

He had no idea what these woods contained.

As far as he was aware the nearby village sustained itself mostly from growing their fields, only substituting meat on rare hunting occasions. Due to that he doubted they would run into any hunters, but it also meant they’d be more likely to run into animals. He frowned slightly as his stomach grumbled, the idea of fresh meat being somewhat...appealing.

As they drew closer the River began to grow louder, rushing water ringing out through the dense forest.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Jedi are more diverse than you think," she smiled at his side. There was a small break in the trees and several boulders parted to the banks of a river. Myrtle-ellipses swept the area up and down before they stepped out. It seemed clear of pirates. But there could be other animals down there. There probably was game with it being the only fresh water source for several leagues.

She pointed Northwest. "That direction should go back to Devil's Peak and technically, their camp." Picking her way carefully through the rocks, she knelt down and leaned over the rushing water, dipping her hand in for a huge gulp. She would have to clean some of the minor scrapes and scratches but it would be too cold to strip now with night coming and no heat source.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

"I would imagine so." Val said plainly. "I've only ever met two."

Admittedly that was a very small sample size. For all he knew Jedi regularly held Orgy's in the center of their temples, though from what he knew they generally abstained from such practices, something about emotions compromising the path to peace. He had never quite understood that, but then again he was no force user, so perhaps he was simply missing a large piece of the puzzle. Either way, a shrug rolled over his shoulders as he knelt down besides the river.

Water splashed across his face a second later, clearing away blood and grime. "We'll head north then."

He said simply.

"A cave is our first priority." They needed shelter for the night. "We can't start a fire, and a cave will at least provide some warmth for us."

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

She scrubbed her face clean with the cold water, lifting the hem of her grimy shirt, she patted her face dry and stood up. Her face had a slight tint of red from the recent scrub. She squinted up stream and began to pick her way up her own trail. "I hope we find one. Otherwise we'll be burying ourselves under a layer of dirt and leaves."

They might have to do that anyway.

"We might even be lucky and find some....there!" Dodging to the side of the river, the healer bent over and plucked some green stuff. Wild mint. Wild chives. She offered some mint to Val. "Want some? It'll help curb your hunger."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

He made a face. "No."

Vegetables...green, never sat quite well within his stomach. He didn't know why, and Aerith used to constantly tease him about it, calling him a child who was too picky to actually eat adult food, but the truth was that most green made him sick. There wasn't any real reason for it as far as he knew...but the truth was he'd rather not throw up while they were trying to run from a group of pirates.

"I'll catch us something before we hit the ridge." He sounded confident of that. "That'll be a bit more filling."

His stomach growled though, and he looked pale. "Ready to go?"

It was clear that he didn't want to get caught out here in the open.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

She shrugged and began to chew some of the leaves. Weird. "Suit yourself." She stuffed the rest of the herbs into her pockets. It was better than nothing. Muscles ached as they continued to walk. A worried eye went to Val every now and then. He definitely didn't look too good. She knew his body was screaming for energy, protein, and carbs.

It was already dusk. They didn't have much time to find a cave before they'd be enveloped in pitch blackness. "What about the stream? Are there any fish? I could help - maybe push them from the stream."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

Fish would work. They weren't his favorite, but at the very least they would sustain him long enough to get out into the mountains. Sprinting through the woods with her on his back had taken more out of him then he'd care to admit. He frowned for a moment and then gave her a nod. "Push them closer, I'll do the rest."

The next few seconds were somewhat comical, though at least they went quick.

She utilized a small press of the force to move some of the fish towards the shore. They swam in a small school, peering through the water. For a moment Val simply watched them, eyes slowly following along as they waded ever closer into the shallows. Then suddenly, one of them...flew out of the water. With instant reaction his hand jumped out like a Viper, catching the creature in his hand as it flopped about and tried to get away from his hand.

He turned to Taheera, somewhat bewildered.

"Uhhh." Val said quietly. "Thanks?"

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Nice hands." She laughed, a clear, bell-like sound. The sky through the trees was a deep violet now with even the orange flow of the sunset gone beneath the horizon. Leaving his side she wandered further upstream. There was a ridge there and a few larger boulders.

Fingers gripped the rocks as she huffed up the steep grade and climbed. Foot slipped on a wet, moss-covered rock but she caught herself. Halfway up, she spotted a dark hole in the rocks, wide enough for two people to be shoulder to shoulder but too low to stand. She called back down to Val, careful not to let her voice carry too far. "Up here!"

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

Had she turned around sooner she would have seen Val consume the fish shed caught, or rather, parts of it. Raw fish wasn't entirely unsafe to eat, there were cultures who did it on a near daily basis, yet the way Val tore into the creatures was slightly...less elegant than those afforementioned cultures tended to be. Still, it got the kob done and when he finished his meal the gauntness had gone from his face.

Color had returned to his cheeks and his eyes seemed far more alert than before. It was odd, a near instant change. The Warrior looked about for a few moments as he followed after Taheera, eyes wandering along the tree line as he carefully searched for any signs of the pirates.

Half of him was still wondering why they were even here.

It simply made no sense.

Val began the climb, carrying himself up the ridge rather quickly, fingers grasping onto rock and muscles rippling as he pulled himself onto the ledge that she was sitting on. He frowned slightly as he pulled himself up further, hand digging at stone when there was a sudden snap. He half stumbled back as the rock broke free from the cliff side, Val only barely catching himself as he turned and landed back on the small ledge.

"Kark." He swore as he pressed himself against the rock wall, still holding onto the rock that haf broken free of the rocky ridge, bits of setting sunlight reflecting off of bright metal within it.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Just be careful with the - Val!" She lunged forward as he slipped, arms looping around his waist. Legs planted as she went to yank him back further from the edge. Hips twisted and they'd both hit the ledge if gravity worked.

Air escaped from her lungs. Chestnut hair fanned across her face, those unruly strands that never stayed in the braid. A wince splashed across her face, rocks digging into her side and knee. She grunted.

"You okay?" Eyes went to his hand and the sparkly rock. "What in the verse..."