Ask Yavin IV Botanical Studies

[Elidan]

Elidan was walking through the corridors of the Jedi Temple, following a path he had taken several times since he came to live at Yavin IV, the one that went to the library. However, this time he wasn’t going there to have a calm place to distract himself with a random holobook. The half-Sephi was going to the Library due to an assignment that he had received from his Biology class.

The Jedi that was acting as professor had decided to assign to the Padawans a search about different animals and plants that had connections with the Force. At first Elidan had no problem with it, he loved studying. He would do this assignment with all pleasure. However, when the professor said that they were going to do that in pairs, the half-Sephi panicked. His partner would not have patience to deal with his mutism.

When the professor said that he was going to form a pair with Eyvone Usoara, Elidan became a bit relieved. He had met the girl before, during the Padawan beach party on Chandrila. However, they barely interacted there. She seemed to be nice, but the half-Sephi hoped that she would have patience with his mutism.The two had agreed to meet at the Library, so they could start with the search.

Elidan was carrying a leather bag that contained some materials and his Datapad, which was important if he wanted to communicate with Eyvone. When he entered the Library, the half-Sephi walked toward the tables. Choosing one of them, he let his bag over it and looked around, searching for the girl. She hadn’t arrived yet. While waiting for her, the boy sat on a chair and pulled his Datapad from inside his bag. Before going there, he had collected some articles that could be useful for their search. Since Elidan was alone for now, he had decided to start to read them.

@lizziie

 

[Eyvone Usoara]

Eyvone had already received a full education before she had come to the Jedi, but still was still required to take classes here. She had mixed feelings about it; while she didn't exactly love the fact that she had to sit through lectures she's already listened to, it kept her out of her room. Though she would prefer to be in her room, she knew she would only feel worse if she stayed there. On a positive note, biology was one of the subjects she had enjoyed in school. This project she had been assigned with Elidan seemed interesting enough as well.

'Plants and animals with strong connections to the Force...' Eyvone wasn't sure what her partner wanted to research, but the Nagai was certainly not early, so Elidan had probably already gotten to the library and chosen a subject.

"Elidan?" The Nagai's distinctive voice called out to the red-headed Sephi when she caught sight of him seat among articles at a table. The pale-skinned girl pulled up a chair beside him. "Uh, hi. Have you found anything yet?"

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

Elidan was so interested in what he was reading that he barely noticed that Eyvone had arrived at the Library. Only after he heard the girl's voice did he turn his attention to her. The half-Sephi smiled and waved.

Closing the article that he was reading, Elidan started to type a message for her on his Datapad. "Hello, Eyvone! I found some articles that could be interesting for our search." he picked two holobooks that were in front of him and opened them in the pages that he wanted. In one there was a picture of a lizard-like creature and in the other there was a picture of a plant. "I found articles about the Ysalamir, an animal of Mykr that can repel the Force." he pointed to the picture of the lizard.

After he showed her the first image, Elidan moved his hand to the other holobook "I also found some information about the Dark red orchid, a rare type of flower that only grows on jungles of the planet of Akiva. It’s said that this flower has a strong force presence."

"I was waiting for you to arrive, so we could decide which one we could work with." he smiled at her. If they were going to work together, the two needed to agree on everything. Elidan wasn't going to ignore her opinion on this important decision. ”So, what do you think could be better?”

@lizziie

 

[Eyvone Usoara]

Eyvone carefully took the holobooks one by one, detailing each image with her eyes and reading the description text written under each as Elidan handed them to her. The lizard, which was called Ysalamir and was native to the planet Mykr, was certainly an interesting-looking creature. Eyvone's second thought played out a scene of her trying to catch the lizard with her own two hands, and a frown at the idea of such an embarrassing moment appeared. The second item, the Dark-red orchid, seemed much more desirable in comparison. Flowers could not run from her.

"I like the flower," Eyvone decided. Her pale finger reached over and tapped twice on the image of the orchid, blowing it up on the screen. The small details on the petals were much easier to see with the larger image size, allowing both of them to see the way the veins on the flower ran up and down the petal. Its stem was green-color so pale it seemed almost white which contrasted against the dark colors of the petals. "I've never been to Akiva either--is it nearby?"

Though she had just asked Elidan, the Nagai pulled out her own datapad and immediately searched the planet anyways. She propped up the device so that the half-Sephi teen could also see the screen. Information about the planet popped up, displaying general information about the planet such as population, government, climate, etc.

"It's a hot planet...jungles...seems to be pretty damn diverse..." Eyvone mumbled as she scrolled with her finger and summarized the various tidbits present on the page. She then looked back at Elidan and shrugged before saying, "What do you have on the flower?"

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

Elidan waited for Eyvone to decide which one they should make the search about. Between the two, the half-Sephi preferred the orchid. The ysalamir was an interesting creature, but he didn’t want to go to Mykr and enter the jungle. This lizard was preyed upon by the Vornskr. These creatures were vicious hunters, and Force sensitives. There were stories about how they would attack Jedi in large groups, being able to kill them.

Due to that, the boy was relieved when the girl chose the plant. Elidan was going to answer her question, but he saw Eyvone pull her datapad and start to type on it, probably in search of answers. Then the Nagai showed what she had found to him. It wasn’t necessary, the half-Sephi had already searched everything about Akiva when he found out that the orchid lived there.

However, he looked at the information that the girl had found. It would be rude if he refused and she could think that he was trying to make the entire search alone. It already happened before. Other Padawans with whom he made an assignment accused him of being a know it all and trying to do the search alone, only because he liked to study the subject before they met. Elidan always thought that by doing it, he could be more helpful.

After Eyvone asked what he had found about the flower, Elidan opened some holobooks about plants of the Galaxy “I found out that these flowers grow in the Northern jungles of Akiva. Being epiphytes, they live fixed on the trunk of medium sized trees.” he explained to her. “Since they have a strong Force presence, I think that it won’t be difficult to find it.” this was the most important. Part of the assignment was to do some field observations, they would need to find the plant. "And I found a map of the area where they occurs." he showed to her a page with a map.

“By the way, I asked Master Traylessend and she said that this week we can use the shuttle that she reserved for her class to make field observations. It seems that the other Padawans still haven't started their search.” Elidan liked Bheva Traylessend, even if nearly all the Padawans were afraid of her. She was a Morellian Jedi and probably one of the oldest members of the Order, even older than Master Voran. She was responsible for teaching Biology. The others were afraid of her because she always had a stern demeanor, not tolerating silliness during her classes. But she was wise and patient with the half-Sephi mutism, so it was enough for him to appreciate her.

“I think that we should do the field observation and collect the flower first. This way we avoid the chaos that will be when all the other Padawans decide to go out at the same time. Then we would have the rest of the time only to write what we found.” Elidan explained to her. It was obvious that many of the others would leave this part of the assignment for the last minute “What do you think?”

@lizziie

 

[Eyvone Usoara]

'Master Traylessen said so?' Eyvone quite liked the Morellian woman. She was a bit on the cool side, but Eyvone had already finished biology in her own studies, so Traylessen's class had been a breeze. The Nagai was very much interested in how the Force affected biology too, and outside of class she often met with the woman to ask her further questions. Considering that biology wasn't exactly a popular subject, Eyvone suspected that the woman appreciated her curiosity more than she let on. Either way, her allowing them to use the shuttles would be good. Trying to convince the temple to let a padawan take a ship out was a pain in the ass most of the time.

"I agree with your idea," Eyvone replied to the robotic voice of the datapad. The Nagai stood and began to gather the holobooks, sliding them one by one into her backpack. "Let's take some of these with us so we can reference them on the trip and make sure we're getting the right flower." The books fell in alongside her various other school materials, such as pencils, a notebook, a portable datapad charger, and snack rations in case she got hungry. There were a couple of her own books in there too.

"Do you want to leave tomorrow morning?" Eyvone asked Elidan. The Nagai had decided that she liked the man. She was always worried about what others thought of her, so it was comforting to be around him when she assumed he probably thought the same. Communicating solely through a datapad probably got him some annoyed quips. Eyvone didn't mind all that much. Though outside of the temple, out in the field, she was sure it might be a bit cumbersome.

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

Elidan nodded to Eyvone. These holobooks would be useful to the search, the most important was the one with the map. The half-Sephi was grateful for the Nagai being his partner on this assignment. Few Padawans were interested in Biology, this is why they have not started the search yet and would probably leave it for the last minute.

He hated leaving everything to the last minute. This was a lazybones thing and he wasn't one. Assignments made in this way always end up being done in a hurry and were not always done well. Elidan preferred to do things early, so it could be done with calm. He was happy because his partner seemed to be this way too.

"Yes, it's perfect! I'll meet you early tomorrow at the spaceport." he rose from his seat and started to collect the material that he had brought. After he finished, Elidan turned his Datapad to Eyvone "See you tomorrow!" he smiled and walked out from the Library. The half-Sephi would hurry back to his room, there was too much that he would need to prepare before the trip.

--------------------​

The next morning, Elidan was walking to the spaceport. He was carrying a backpack with his food, datapad and the material that they would need to take notes at the field. The half-Sephi had talked early with Master Traylessend that he and Eyvone were going to Akiva. The Morellian Jedi had asked the Padawans to warn her that they were leaving the Temple and the place to where they were going.

After doing that, the boy thought that he would arrive late at the spaceport. However, he was surprised for not seeing Eyvone nowhere. He walked toward the ship that Master Traylessend had arranged for them and waited for the Nagai to arrive. While he did it, Elidan picked his Datapad as started to read some more informations about the Dark red orchid.

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[Eyvone Usoara]

Eyvone sat while Elidan gathered his stuff and promptly left. She waved him goodbye when he turned his datapad toward her, but otherwise didn't make any other efforts to move. She sat there for about an hour, staring off into space as she replayed the events. That was about as social as Eyvone had ever been with a single person. The Nagai was sure it was because he was mute, but it was still difficult for her.

"Whatever," she mumbled after a while. The Nagai stood up and left, bringing her bag along with her.

-----

Eyvone woke up a little later than she wanted. Her pale eyes flipped over to the clock. 'I won't be late if I rush.' The Nagai jumped to her feet and threw on her clothes and grabbed her backpack. She stumbled over to the sink as she yanked up her pants, and after brushing her teeth, quickly walked out the door and towards the spaceport.

The Nagai made her way toward the ship quickly and gave Elidan a small wave when she saw him. 'He is a lot taller than I thought he would be...' thought the girl when she found herself looking up at him. 'Whatever.'

"Are we ready to go?"

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

Elidan stopped reading when Eyvone talked to him. The boy smiled and nodded at her. “Yes, we are. The ship is already prepared, we can go now." then he walked inside it. Yesterday he had told Master Traylessend that he and the Nagai were going to Akiva, she prepared the shuttle for their travel. The only thing that they would need was someone to pilot it.

While he walked, Elidan informed the girl about the other things that he discovered about the flower. "I was reading more about the Dark red orchid. I found an article about the predation of these flowers by some animals of Akiva. It says that even some carnivores eat it." it was fascinating. The Padawan wondered what made these flowers so attractive for the animals.

"I also discovered that people of the villages near the areas where the orchids grow use these flowers to make some type of traditional medicine. I was thinking that we could do some interviews to see if it really has healing properties." he explained to Eyvone. It could be a good source of information to expand their assignment. "If it is true, maybe we could even try to discover if it's related to the flower's Force presence."

After they entered the ship, they would need to decide who was going to pilot it. Elidan was a bit unsure of how he would say that to Eyvone. The half-Sephi knew how to pilot a ship, but he wasn’t so confident in his abilities. "Do you want to pilot?” he asked her. He hoped that she would want to do it. These large shuttles were always so complex for him. The last thing that he wanted was to crash them somewhere.

@lizziie

 

[Eyvone Usoara]

"Do I want to pilot?" Eyvone chewed on that question for a few moments. She hadn't flown a ship since...the incident. So no, she didn't want to fly the ship, but Elidan had a hopeful look in his eye. So she sighed, smiled, and said, "Yeah, sure."

It wasn't like she'd be running from Sector Rangers only to end up stranded in dead space...right?

Eyvone would board the ship, set her backpack down somewhere that made sense, then make her way to the pilot's seat. While Elidan got things settled in and/or got things ready, she would work on starting up the engines and making sure the correct coordinates were inputted into the ship's navigation. Once everything seemed fine on her part, she would look back and call out, "Everything good on your part?" She gave him a thumbs-up then rotated it up and down to indicate she was just looking for a gesture from him. Once the thumbs-up was given, she would press a few buttons, pull a few switches, and they'd be on their way.

**********​

It wouldn't take them long to get to Akiva. The hyperspace lane the Pinooran Spur would take them to Presbalin, then it was just a quick jump to end up in Akiva's atmosphere. The planet's lush green forests that covered the surface of Akiva would appear before the glass of the ship. She guided the ship to the planet's capital Myrra and prepared to land at the national spaceport.

Once they were landed, it wouldn't take long to go through the usual security checks before they were allowed to leave their ship locked up and head out into the city.

"So, where to first?" Eyvone would ask of Elidan in her strangely melodic voice. They had a couple of options, such as heading straight to a speeder rental and getting right to their work. She'd let him decide though.

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

Elidan felt relieved when Eyvone agreed to pilot the ship. It was going to be one of his few opportunities to travel, the last thing that he wanted was to end up crashing them somewhere. If someday he needed to pilot a large ship like this one, the boy hoped that he would be alone on it.

After they boarded it, the half-Sephi went to settle the things that they were bringing with them. Since they were going only to find a plant, it wasn't necessary to carry many things. Master Traylessend had reserved some supplies for the duos to use during their field trips. There was some food and tents, which could be necessary for those that would need to stay more time at the field watching animals.

When he finished, Elidan would walk to the cockpit and sit in one of the seats that were located behind the pilot chair. He would give a thumb up for Eyvone, answering her question. Then, the Nagai would activate the ship and their trip would start.

----------------​

They would soon arrive at Akiva, with the trip being calm and uneventful. Elidan thought that Eyvone was a really good pilot. If he was doing it, they would probably have crashed at Presbalin. It was obvious that the girl had experience doing it.

After they landed, the two Padawans waited for the security checks. Since the AMS pandemic started, security measures at spaceports are becoming more rigid. When it finished, the two would left the ship and walk in the street.

"We could rent a speeder, then use it to reach the part of the jungle where the flowers grow." Elidan answered Eyvone's question. "I have a map that will bring us there. It wasn’t too far away from there."

@lizziie