Wake Up

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Hey! HEY!" Kira would object, moving quickly to poke at her husband's ribs with her finger. "Take that back!" she would cry, almost amusingly so. She gave a few more pokes in emphasis.

"That very same thought process is what hooked you to pretty ol' me years ago buster!" the Lorrdian would call him out, eyes bright in her humor.

"My charming disposition and the fact that I tackled your butt to the ground!" she gave a hmph, blowing hot air up to toss her bangs into the air and move them away from her eyes. Their path began to move them uphill, angle picking up in grade. A few huffs and puffs of air came from the Jedi Master as it took a bit more effort to climb. It had been a while since she'd done actual excursions for missions.

"Remind me... " huff, " That perhaps..." Huff puff. "we should .. " a pause and she brushed her bangs away from her face. " Walk more..."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He looked at his wife, eyebrow raising slightly as he watched her huff and puff air. “Are you okay, Honey?”

Soliael didn’t exactly have the same human restrictions as Kira did, something that he sometimes forgot about. Kira was not like him. She was better than him in many ways, but when it came to simple physiology Soliael most definitely had the edge. While she was just a regular old human, he came from slightly...enhanced stock.

That gave him far more endurance then her.

“I can carry you.” He offered, no hint of smugness in his tone. “It’s not that far.”

Considering what he’d done to her just a few days ago...well she was still probably lacking for a bit of blood, and he had more than enough energy to run several marathons. That was no exaggeration either.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Kira gave a pause, her hands bracing at her hips as she caught her breath. Indeed, Soliael had taken some substancance from her earlier, not to mention the bit of soreness that lingered. Hiking perhaps wasn't the best idea after all of that.

Breathing a bit heavily, Kira's nose gave a slight scrunch. It made her feel rather silly, but she knew that at close to fifty, while the Force gave her strength and kept her young, she still had her limits. It had also been a while since she'd really done much physical work.

"... maybe... might be a good idea." she said, wiping the beading sweat off her brow. She gave a sheepish expression.

"Sorry...I got all excited and forgot that I hadn't done much field work in a while."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

The path was admittedly not the easiest to climb either. They were going uphill in the middle of the jungle when the air was basically a blanket. He couldn’t blame her for not wanting to walk, nor could he blame her for being tired.

This nameless world was already proving far more challenging than he had expected. He thought perhaps that it would have been better to travel at night, but that very likely would have come with its own set of challenges and obstacles. For one, they still had no idea just what lurked within the jungles or beneath the soil of the planet. So for now, while traveling during the day was difficult, it was also safe.

“Come on.” He motioned to her.

The packs were small and slight enough that she could keep hers on her back and he could carry the other in his arms while he gave her a piggyback ride. It would be slightly awkward, but not the worst thing in the world.

Soliael shifted and dropped his bag on a small nearby boulder, waiting for Kira to move.

His eyes meanwhile scanned the jungles, as if he were looking for something or someone that might pose a danger.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

As Kira came up behind Soliael to climb on, she gave a slight chuckle.

"I remember.." she gave a little grunt, her diminutive figure drawing herself up and curling her arms around his shoulder for leverage.

"When you used to give Maleah," another huff of breath and Soliael would hear her speak near his right ear. Up went one leg, his powerful arms coming up to curl around and grab a hold.

"...piggyback rides." he would feel her chuckle at his back, bodies pressed close together. Stray hairs would fan along his cheek, tickling his jaw.

"And you went around and around...." Kira could remember it like yesterday. How Sol and the kids laughed as they spun and ran across the beach. Micah and Kai at his heels, Aela watching just over her book, giggling as well. How Micah had beckoned his older sister to 'come heeeeeerrrre', and she finally did after a second.

That had been a wonderful summer day. A good memory.

How she missed their children. Even if they were practically adults themselves, she still missed them.

They were her babies.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]


Memories were good. They were the fabric of what made life good. Even in the worst of times you could call upon a happy memory and see yourself glad. Kira and Soliael had made hundreds of happy memories over the years, some including their children, and others not. He hoped this trip would become another one of those.

“They’re good kids.” Soliael repeated his earlier sentiments, smiling as Kira brought up that hot summer day and climbed atop his back. “No doubt they take after their mother more than their father.”

At least, their father in early life. “It’s good that they’re living their own lives now. Experiencing the galaxy the way they want to.”

Soliael had heard the slight sadness in her tone, he knew the way that Kira missed her kids. Yet it was important to remember that they were adults now, that they could make their own choices and that by and large those choices were good because of what Kira and Soliael had taught them. He picked up his pack and slowly began their trek up mountain.

“We’ll have a big party when we get back.” Soliael said with a smile. “Get the whole family together.”

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Really!?" That would perk up the blonde, her head tilting close to the right side of her husband's face. He wouldn't have to see the wide grin that had split her face; he'd simply know.

If there was anything his wife thoroughly enjoyed it was a family get togethers. It may seem odd considering that they spent a lot of time with each other already, but there was just something about having the kids along with Amore and Cameron over. Maybe even Verie and Dissero would enjoy visiting?

"Ohh, we can have it on Borleias!" she began, already thinking about the party. Amusing, considering they were currently traveling towards the direction of Jedi ruins with no clear indication on why they were left behind to begin with. But it made sense. Kira's joy was her family. Not much could top that.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

They could in theory also have the party at their winter home, but really no one wanted to have a family get together in the freezing cold. Most of the time when everyone gathered in one place it was somewhere warm and nice, and that was certainly Borleias.

“Yep.” He said as he began to trudge further up the mountain.

A hint of concentration touched his voice, as if he needed to properly focus. While his physiology was slightly greater than that of his wife, it was still quite a bit of weight. There was Kira, the two packs, and of course himself. The weather didn’t exactly make it easy either and he felt like with each step things were getting a bit heavier.

That was silly of course, but as time passed Soliael felt himself slowly begin to get tired.

He yawned as they passed the threshold of a clearing, pausing for a second to let himself rest. “I need a break.”

Soliael said with a stretch, dropping the backpack onto the ground and letting Kira clamber off of his back.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Want some water?" Kira would ask, noting the slight hitch of his breath. She may not have been too heavy, but climbing up hill in a planet with a thinner atmosphere than what they were used to would take its toil. She quickly slid off his back, allowing him to straighten to his full height and stretch his limbs out.

"Thank you, big guy," she said, leaning over to kiss his bearded jaw. Plopping down, the woman went in search for a canteen. Whether or not he wanted water or not, Kira was pulling it out. A slight scrunch of her eyes and she gave a squint up ahead. The ruins were visible. Not far at all.

"Wouldn't be too far." looking at the land, it was a bit more level. "I should be able to walk the rest of the way." she didn't want him to wear himself down.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Soliael took the water bottle handed to him by his wife and took half a gulp of water, chugging down some of the fluid before quickly refocusing himself and taking a look towards the same direction she was facing towards. He frowned for a moment, narrowing his eyes until he saw patches of stone.

The Ruins were dug into the side of a mountain of course, at least partially, and before that there were several smaller buildings that looked half crumbled and fallen. That was standard practice of course, build a solid structure then slowly erect more around it as you required more space. It was no surprise to Soliael that the ancient Jedi who had built here would have done the same thing, especially considering that they must have had a particularly large collections of people.

At least, he would guess from the Jedi Stone statue that they did.

"We'll start seeing markers." He pointed out.

There was no doubt in him that they would not begin to fall on an actual path, one set out by the former residents of the temple below.

 

[Kira Talith]

"Closer we get then we might start seeing old walking paths." Kira said, in tune to Soliael's thoughts. The back of her hand went sliding across her forehead, wiping away the beads of sweat.

"Pretty humid here." she added, fluffing her shirt a bit to get some air in between her breasts.

"Air is thin." glancing down, she went to her belt, where she had her datapad. A quick few taps and she brought up the feed from the environmental probe.

"I'll have the probe to start mapping the area." at the very least, see if it could pick out any weak spots on the foundation or anything of interest.

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"Probably a good idea." For all he knew the thing was just randomly hovering above the ground in front of the temple, he hadn't exactly told it to do anything after he'd left the bridge. "Let's keep going."

He glanced overhead towards the sun.

They still had no idea how long the days lasted on this planet, something else that they probably should have calculated before they made their way down. He frowned for a moment and tried to remember where the sun had been on the beginning of their journey, doing some quick math in his head as he gave another peek up towards the sky then towards the horizon. Soliael looked odd for a moment, eyes half rolling until he finally spoke again. "I think we have about four hours of sunlight left."

It was a very rough estimate.

"Did we bring a tent?" He doubted they'd make it back to the ship once they hit the ruins.

 

[Kira Talith]

"Yeah," the blonde replied. They had a small portable tent that would be enough for both of them. It was one of those new tents that had been promoted on the Southern System bazaar. It would pack light, but also be all weather capable.

"Should be in your bag I think," Kira would clarify, taking the first few steps to head through the clearing. The area was thick with grasses nearly up to knee high. Not the best place to wander through. Odds were there could be anything hiding within them.

"Careful." she cautioned, stretching out her senses.

"I wouldn't be surprised if there were critters making this their home." she added, pushing the grass away to allow them to pass.

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Soliael reached out with the force.

He'd never been the greatest at sensing things at a distance, and in a jungle like this it was hard to tell individual life apart from the great teeming mass of trees and plants, but he would at least be able to sense if something was about to attack them. He frowned for a moment and cast another glance towards the sky. "We'll camp in the ruins."

That was a given, though perhaps they would have to see just how stable it all was before actually setting up.

"There's a storm coming eventually." He reminded her of the satellite image that they'd gotten earlier. "Well...maybe. No idea how that all travels here."

They had lived for so long on Borleias that Kira and he could both tell when it was going to storm simply from looking at the sky. It was an odd innate talent that both of them had developed, and usually they were both accurate to a T. Here however they didn't have that luxury, and although they had seen stormclouds far to the west of where they were now there was no telling whether or not said clouds would head towards them or just shoot off in a random direction.

Either way, he was more than willing to bet that if those clouds did it, it would mean lots of rain.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Well, however, it travels, I rather not have to --" there was a sudden shift in the Force that made the tiny hairs at the nape of Kira's neck stand on end.

An awareness of her surroundings. Not necessarily danger as much as... a warning. Kira slowed her step, panning her gaze to search around.

There was no need to ask Soliael if he felt it; he surely would.

Another rustle of the grass, about two hundred meters to their right. One wouldn't have been able to notice it, likely thought it the wind swaying the grass.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He frowned slightly. He could sense it too of course, and hear it for that matter.

Though most predators moved silently through their natural habitat, there were always tell-tale signs. Rustling in the jungle, a slow movement of leaves, a bend of a tree here and there. Most wouldn't have noticed it, but Soliael had been living on an island with a jungle for the better part of two decades now. The Predators he encountered there?

His children.

The former Sith Lord flexed slightly, his fingers scrunching as a flow of the force began to pass through him. He waited for half a moment, grabbing onto Kira's pack and pulling her towards himself so that she wasn't as exposed out in the open. For a moment he simply stood there, not moving, eyes slowly panning over the jungle. Another few seconds passed, and then from within the leaves to the right a massive cat like creature pounced forward.

Within an instant Soliael lashed out. Not enough to kill the creature, but enough to instantly throw it back.

A powerful press of the force sent the creature flying into the air and back into a nearby tree.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

There was a loud thud as the large feline hit the tree, giving a slight whimper only to roll onto the ground. It quickly got to its feet, powerful claws digging into the earth as it shook its large maned head to gather its bearings.

By all accounts, it was similar to that of a Bha'lir, a jungle predator from Lyred. Typically, these types of cats were very gentle when treated with caution, but would be very territorial and would respond violently if they felt threatened.

Having two people suddenly show up out of nowhere near her cub's den was enough to warrant a territorial display. If she was here -- another slow rustle came from the right.

Then her mate would not be fair.

"Watch out!" Kira would cry, the sudden bounding of powerful thighs and forearms bringing the male cat straight towards the Lorrdian and her husband.

Kira being who she is would not condone the killing any creature, so instead she went reaching through the Force. An attempt to root the cat in place would follow, trying to pacify it by putting it in stasis.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Animals always worked off of base instinct. His mother had always told him that creatures like Drexl and Skreeve didn’t much care about predators, they were the alpha on their world and thus had no need to worry.

He suspected that it was much the same way with these felines.

Soliael didn’t think there would be many species on this world that were bigger than these two, and that meant they couldn’t see him and Kira as predators. So instead of being weary and shirking away, they attacked. It was a natural instinct really, they thought they had no reason to be afraid, so they simply weren’t.

Of course, the simple truth was Soliael could have killed these two creatures in a heartbeat.

That would upset his wife though and he was in no mood for that argument.

One of the creatures froze, the other slowly rose to its feet just a few meters away from it’s partner. There was a loud growl, and then Soliael stepped forward. He didn’t throw the beast, not again, instead he reached out with the force. He didn’t try to control it, years of practice had told him that he couldn’t, but he could scare it.

The force began to weave in an odd way, blanketing over the two creatures to sort of...push their thoughts towards something else. It wasn’t the same technique a Sith would use, but instead a simple Jedi Mind trick. To the two tigers, Soliael and Kira would suddenly appear to be much larger, and much more angry versions of themselves.

Easy.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]


The two tigers suddenly began to lose a bit of their gumption. Kira was able to feel when the one she held fast felt the need to scatter. One more second and Kira released her stasis hold. As soon as she did so, the tiger went darting off back into the grass. Were Soliael to set down the one he held hovering in the air, it would do the same.

"That... was a close one." Kira managed to huff out. There was a bit of an adrenaline rush coursing through her veins. In fact, it gave her that second wind.

Kira appreciated that her husband had not displayed any more deadly force than necessary. Also now they knew what sort of wildlife they would have to keep an eye out for.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]
Soliael left out a breath. “We’re fine.”

A shrug rolled over his shoulder. He hadn’t actually been that worried about it, maybe a little bit. Beasts were something of an...oddity in his life. His mother was Beastia of Onderon, quite literally the Queen of the beast riders. Oddly enough he’d never had an affinity towards creatures of nature, but he’d been around then often enough that he found no issue with most ‘monsters’.

“They didn’t eat us.” He pointed out. “So I would count it as a win for us.”

If they were counting anyway.

“Come on, Honey.” Soliael stepped up behind Kira and gently rubbed her back. While he was a little bit more tired now too, they couldn’t really afford to stand around here and wait for the creatures to get brave again.

“Temple is just down the road.” Figure of speech. “We’ll rest once we get there.”