Wind in My Sails

[Adder]

The planet was just the right kind of quiet and warm this time of year. Not quite summer yet, Adder had come to ride out the tailend of spring and its gentle weathers before the glare of the sun in the sky became too much to handle. A city kid, she’d never acquired much of a taste for burning heat.

It was calm this far out, and though Naboo saw a lot of visitors throughout the seasons, Adder was crafty enough to pick out a more secluded spot on the coast.

In any case, she didn’t intend to stick around very long. The tourists could very well swarm the beaches for all she cared; her interests lay farther out to the sea.

Hold your drexl, Adder.

“Well,” she spoke, turning to her companion. “Here we are. Close your eyes?” The plea was an unsure one, but she hoped that [member="Aela Talith"] trusted her enough by now that she’d comply with the soft request. She only needed a few seconds, anyway.

Tiptoeing away from the Jedi, the redhead slipped out her keys and called the ship up from behind a nearby cliff. The sea swirled, white sprouts growing at the tips of the waves just before the vessel parted the water with a splash. It sailed to the dock with smooth ease, gliding more akin to a bird than a seafaring piece of metal. Oh, the wonders of technology.

Adder grinned excitedly.

“You can open them now.”

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

Aela had grown up in an archipelago, within a massive chain of islands on one of the southern continents on Borleias. Her early life, and even later teen years, had been spent traveling via ship from island to island. Her and her sister Maleah had often taken trips together, simply exploring and looking at everything. A few times Micah had sneaked on board when they hadn't been looking, once or twice Kaili had even come along, but she could remember those trips well.

She had a fondness for them.

"Oh!" Aela called out with quite a bit of excitement in her tone. It wasn't often that she got to return home, less often that she actually got to do anything while there. Her parents had left for a trip to the Rishi Maze, and since then she simply hadn't gone to Borleias, now she found herself wondering if she'd missed out on anything. "Where did you find this?"

Naboo wasn't exactly famous for it's sailing, not anymore anyway.

The Gungans were usually ones that kept to the water, but this didn't look like a Gungan craft. Those things were far more...confined, not to mention they worked more as submersibles rather than actual ships. She smiled and unconsciously began to walk towards the water, rather excited about the prospect of once again being able to sail the sea.

 

[Adder]

Aela’s joy was infectious, and Adder felt her lips curl up into a smile of their own volition. It was far too rare that she saw the Jedi so openly excited, these days. War was bearing down hard on everyone, but as a Marshal, she was shouldering a burden far greater than most. After Coruscant, she deserved a break. They both did.

With a sigh, Adder forced the thoughts of battle and pervasive darkness from her mind. They were here now. Don’t waste this.

“Glad you like it,” she said, catching the taller woman’s stride. “Borrowed it from an old friend who likes to tinker. Like me, only sea ships instead of space.”
The redhead winked conspiratorially, then waded into the shallows to climb onto the wide wings of the ship.

She glanced at the Jedi over her shoulder as she scrambled higher, towards the hatch on the top. “Wanna drive?”



[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

She blinked. "You don't drive a sailboat."

Of course, Adder probably didn't know that. Aela doubted that she had ever seen one before actually. Adder was from Coruscant, and although the planet had oceans they weren't really for recreational purposes. They were massive water reserves for drinking, showers, all of that. She frowned for a moment and then slowly stepped forward onto the sands. There was a serene breeze that pushed her hair slightly, letting it tangle for a moment as she drew closer to the ocean.

"My father built one." She said with a smile. "It was made of the island's own trees."

That had been an achievement, and really the only thing Soliael had ever actually made in his woodworking phase.

"I used to take it around the islands, travel to meet some of the villages." Those were good memories. She had been hardly 14 then, old enough to travel on her own. Mother had been apprehensive to say the least, but in the end the experience had been a good one.

 

[Adder]

She gave a dismissive wave of her hand and plopped down on top of the vessel. “Potayto, potahto. It’s a ship. You drive it. Sail it. Whatever.”

At this, Adder quirked her brows in surprise. And respect. But mostly surprise. “Wooden ship? Chit, that’s ancient.”
She paused, then, frowning for a moment. “Villages? Island? What planet was that?”

Now that she thought about it, she realized she had no idea where [member="Aela Talith"] was from. Between all the slave-rescuing, crime-fighting, and war-mongering they’d been doing, there wasn’t much opportunity for heart-to-heart.

Smiling again, the redhead patted the spot beside herself. “Come on up. It doesn’t bite.”

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

"Borleias." She said quietly as she moved towards the ship. "That's home."

Usually that was kept secret, or rather, the actual location of home was.

A lot of people actually now knew that Soliael and his family lived on Borleias, it had been rather obvious when he'd become Senator of the place. Of course, not many people connected her father and her. She supposed that was because they'd never been seen in public together, and the fact that the Talith name, although it was infamous, just wasn't remembered in the same way that it had once been.

That was a good thing though.

Aela and her siblings were slowly drowning out the bad that her grandfather had caused and replacing it with the good. Her mother and father were helping with that as well, something that wasn't going unnoticed around the galaxy. She smiled at the thought as she pulled herself up on the boat. "It's not really well known."

Borleias was a 'paradise' world, tropical, warm, always sunny. Yet it had never been big as a tourist destination.

 

[Adder]

“Borleias. Huh.”

Adder scooted over to make more space for the younger woman. True to Aela’s words, she didn’t know of the planet beyond its name and a foggy idea of its location. “Is it nice, Borleias?”
Sounded like it, that was for sure. A far cry from the steel and ferrocrete forests she’d grown up in.

Returning to Coruscant had dredged up plenty of memories she’d rather left buried; old wounds that’d never healed properly now bled anew. Some merely stung, but others…

“You didn’t answer me,” she said, eager to drown out her thoughts before the spiraled downwards. With some effort, Adder dragged a smile back onto her face – though kicking and screaming – and nudged the blonde with her metal elbow.

“You wanna drive or what?”

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

"Paradise." She said simply. "That's how most people describe it. There isn't much of value there, not to military's or government's, but it's a paradise worlds. Islands, sun, warm beaches, there's the occasional storm but truthfully the locals are always ready for them. Living there is calm, peaceful, but hard if you don't have the right connections, or a lot of money."

Her family had a lot of money, a lot, or money, so it had never really been an issue for them. At times she was still quite flabbergasted at just how large their fortune really was, especially since she stood to inherit most of it were something to happen to her parents. Of course that was completely unlikely, impossible to Aela's mind, but it was still something to think about now and again. She shifted slightly, finally paying attention to what Adder had asked as the woman drove an elbow into her side. "What?"

She looked around for something to 'drive'.

"Oh." Aela said flatly, staring at Adder. "You don't drive a sailboat."

The young Marshall began to lecture the woman. "You sail it, and even then it's a little more complex then just pushing a button. You have to adjust the sails, make sure the rudder is in the right spot, and then have to maintain the boom and half a dozen other things before you can even get going."

These things weren't simple.

 

[Adder]

“That your way of saying you’re a billionaire?” Her lips quirked up, amusement pulling at her features. The dark thoughts washed away easily enough with the steady swell of the waves beneath them. Ebb and flow, calming. Much like the beat of a heart, or the steady rhythm of a mother rocking her child.

She knew what was going to happen, of course.

There was the minute shift in [member="Aela Talith"]’s posture. Just a little bit straighter, just a little bit taller. It was her authority mode. Her voice followed the change in body language, expectedly. Adder just laughed, mischief sparkling in the depths of her green eyes.

“You say that like driving a spaceship’s easy,” she drawled when the blonde wrapped up her righteous lecture. “Clearly, I’m ignorant about sailboats. I guess that only leaves us with one option.”

Still grinning, Adder slipped back a bit, just enough to reveal the hatch. With the press of a button, it slid open, revealing the spacious cabin below.

“After you, Miss Talith.”

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

"My parents are." She said truthfully.

Aela actually had no idea whether she personally had any sort of money. It was an odd, and also incredibly childish realization she had several months ago. It had bothered her for a bit, but in truth it made sense. Aela had never wanted for much, and when she had she'd simply asked her parents or the Jedi Order. Things were somewhat...sheltered for Aela, that much she could at the very least admit to herself. She frowned for a moment then shifted.

"I don't think I have money at all." Aela didn't sound sad, more perplexed. Her shoulders rolled in a shrug.

"Nuh uh." She slowly stood up and pointed to the sail, ignoring Adder's urging to go below deck. "Gotta get going first."

They could see what else was on the ship once they were out of the bay.

She didn't want to be in the way of anyone else trying to get in with a ship.

 

[Adder]

Her jaw tensed for a moment at that response. The words of a kid who’s never wanted for nothing. Spoiled. But Adder caught the thought, crushing it viciously underfoot. It wasn’t true; she’d seen Aela stand up for those less fortunate numerous times, at the risk of her own life.

She was tired. Paranoid. Coruscant had drained her in ways that went beyond the physical. The experience had been taxing on her psyche. A cruel, death-tainted homecoming that’d left a sour taste in her mouth.

“How can you not have money if your parents are loaded?”

An affable smile, a roll of the eyes. “Well then, miss expert. By all means,” she gestured to the furled sail with a grin.

In truth, though, Adder had no idea how to ready a sailboat. She’d been counting on [member="Aela Talith"]’s skills all the while.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

She shrugged. Money had never really been something she'd thought about. Sure her parents had it, and sure she'd never wanted for anything, but in truth Aela had never really lived in the lap of luxury anyway. Sure their house was technically a private island, but that was far more for security then actual luxury. Aside from that their home was actually rather modest, containing no great treasures, no ostentatious displays of wealth, nothing that would mark them as having more money then the average person.

It was odd really, but it showed more about her mother then anything else. Kira had grown up within the Jedi Order, without the need for money or anything at all really. She wasn't used to having money, and thus she wouldn't spend it. That thought had been instilled into Aela and her siblings. It was simply the way they were.

"I've never thought about it." She said plainly. "My parents always made sure that we had everything we needed, obviously I would take money when I went off-world with my siblings, but other then that the concern has never really come up. I don't think it helps that I'm not part of the Jedi Order. Pretty much everything we have is already supplied, food, housing, and well...I don't exactly have a lot of personal things anyway."

What she did have was on Borleias in her room, and even that was mostly books. "Probably sounds bad."

Aela frowned for a moment, then moved towards the sail.

Her hands worked deftly, mainly pulling from muscle memory as she began to unfurl the sail and move everything into place. The boom swung around, nearly hitting Adder as the woman stood on the back of the ship. The young Jedi Marshall simply smiled at her, then quickly continued her work. The ship rocked slightly as the sail caught a gust of wind, sliding them forward just a bit as the ship was readied.

 

[Adder]

She swallowed the instinctually caustic response, pushed it far, far away. Aela wasn’t a posh brat.

“Eh. It is what it is. I’d say you turned out pretty okay,” she shrugged, but her green eyes twinkled with mirth. ‘Okay’ was a massive understatement, in Adder’s opinion, but she didn’t voice that part. Couldn’t. So she replaced words with a honest smile, and hoped it held.

Without further protest, the Jedi got to work. Lounging on the top of the vessel, the redhead avoided a face-first impromptu meeting with the boom by sheer dumb luck.

“Hey, watch out!” she yelled, grin still in place. “We’re not all space wizards here.”

Still, the narrow miss spurred Adder into action, and she suspected that was the ultimate goal. “Alright. How can I help?”

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

"The anchor." She pointed to the front of the ship.

Of course it wasn't lowered all the way, it would have been impossible to move the ship into position without it, but Aela wanted to make sure that it was properly secured to the side of the vessels before they actually got going. An anchor wasn't necessarily going to stop them from moving, but if they accidentally dropped it over the side while going through the bay there was no telling what sort of damage they could do to the marine wild-life around here.

"Make sure it's secure with a tight knot." She said. "A good one."

It surprised her how many people couldn't tie a proper knot.

She'd taught some of the younglings back on Sullust, but they had likely already forgotten how to do it. She frowned for a moment, shifting her weight and then pulling back so she could head towards the ships steering wheel.

 

[Adder]

Adder frowned in the direction of Aela’s finger. What with her background, she was well aware that sailboats used to be all ropes and cloth. Used to. Most of the known galaxy had moved forward some three or four thousand years ago, give or take. Modern sailboats still existed, naturally. They operated almost exclusively with automated technology.

She opened her mouth, closed it again, and moved over to the side of the vessel to pull the anchor up. All it took was the press of a button and then Adder could watch the mechanism drag the anchor all the way up. It clicked in place when the length of the chain reached its end. That was it.

“Engineers don’t really use knot-based technology anymore, you know,” she spoke up as she followed the blonde. Amusement was twinkling in the green of her eyes, and a grin threatened to curl her lips. She bit it back and joined Aela at the stern.

“Ready when you are, Cap’n.”

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

"You'd be surprised." She said simply. "Even starships break."

That was a statement of fact.

Aela had seen Nohei use simple bits of rope to keep a ship together more then once. Her little sister was the only one of them capable of actually piloting such things, and usually when they'd gone on smaller trips Nohei had been the one to actually fly them places. Of course, most of the time when they went Micah would end up breaking the damn thing, but that wasn't really something that could be helped. The Taltih children had always adapted, always found a fix.

It was in their heritage. "Hang on."

Aela said the words as she grabbed onto the wheel, her fingers lacing around the odd hook like extremities. She slowly turned them as a gust of wind struck the sails, the rudder slipping beneath the water as the ship coasted to the left and out of the bay.

 

[Adder]

A small, confused frown passed over her face like a summer storm. “I’d be surprised?”
Adder laughed, softly, and continued securing the various lengths of rope scattered about on the deck. The vessel was a strange hybrid of nostalgia and modern technology. She didn’t quite know where to put it, so she just stopped trying.

“Aela, I’ve been flying starships longer than you’ve been alive,” the redhead spoke between chuckles.

The ship shuddered then, and Adder tightened the rope on instinct. Flying, sailing, potato, potahto.
Movement and behavior were ingrained in her muscles like a hardy sailor’s, and she didn’t have to think to react appropriately.

“Where are you taking us?”

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

"Yeah?" She asked quietly. "Have any of those starships had Solar Sails?"

The technology was ancient to be fair, rare as all hell, but still common enough that Aela's own ship The Rising Tide had one. Solar Sails weren't like regular sails of course, that would be ludicrous, but when damaged they did actually require knots, as odd as it was. She had learned this on a trip with her brother, one gone awry. She remembered the events rather well, what they had discovered sitting in her mind as much as what happened yesterday.

It was hard to forget the wonders they'd discovered in that Nebula.

Her head swiveled to the side, catching Adder's glance as the ship slowly took to the winds and pressed itself out of the bay. "I dunno."

A shrug rolled over her shoulders.

"Out to sea?" What was Naboo like out there? Were there islands? "The last time I came here I didn't exactly go to the oceans. Titavians tend to stay inland."

 

[Adder]

“Solar whats?” Oh, she’d heard her. She just had trouble reconciling the words with reality.
“You’re pulling my leg! Solar sails are kids’ stories. They don’t actually exist.” A pause, a frown. “Do they?”

Thing was, Adder just couldn’t be sure. While [member="Aela Talith"] had a sense of humor… kinda… this sort of elaborate joke wasn’t her style, though. And that deadpan expression of hers? Bottom line was, the blonde believed what she was saying was true. Which opened more questions than it answered, but it was a start. Good enough.

Tying her last knot, she pushed off the rail and crossed the deck to join the Jedi. “You… went birdwatching?” Adder felt a smile curl her lips, and before she knew it, she was laughing.
“I’ve always wanted to see one, you know. I guess I just forgot to make time.”

With a sigh, her smile drained away. She’d forgotten to make time for many things.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Adder"]

"Of course they exist." Aela said nonchalantly. Solar Sails were as much of a fact to her as...well this boat. The technology wasn't exactly new, in fact it was ancient, which was probably why Adder thought it wasn't real. She frowned for a moment, shifting her weight at the wheel and half turning towards Adder to look at the woman. She wondered just how surprised Adder would be with some of the more mystical things in the galaxy. The deeper reaches of the force, the power that it held, the utter magic that it could produce.

She frowned for a moment, then continued on. "The Rising Tide uses them."

"I'll show you sometime." Her ship was on Sullust right now, but they could go back any time.

"As for bird watching." She smiled at the memory. "I more went to fly them."

Her grandmother had taught her how to control beasts, at least part of the way. Maleah had always been much better at it, but Aela could do it well enough. The Titavians had proved a challenge, even for her, but the end result had been a good one. The great beasts were capable of great things, and she remembered her time with them fondly.