Finding Rabbits

[Manstin]

It was dark. The stars speckled inky-blue skies and the sounds of insects and early-morning birds softly thrilled through the dewey grasses. It was still. A peace was on the land.

But the sun’s rays then cut through the coolness with illuminations of reds, golds, purples, and blues. Life awoken. Early morning hunts began. Herds shifted and moved. The great mammoths began their continuous march, shaping the landscape with their mass and herds. Their trumpets echoing through the air to announce their movements.

Fog rose, dispersing moisture for thirsty vegetation. Where trees grew, rows of insects trailed to deliver the morning grains for storage. Many would get caught in sticky sap or eaten by vibrantly colored birds who needed to feed their chicks.

It was Life. It worked in circles and tandems. It pulsed with breath from the microscopic algae to the bipedal sentients that forged their living from the lands. Ignorant of life beyond the stars, knowing only of the sun, the moon, and the ground.

The rabbity Lapinota only needed to know of their world, and the balance of their world. They busied themselves with birth, life, and death. They knew their place, but it was only a fragment of context.
It was about to literally come crashing down.


One Lapinota, a handsome buck, was lazily stretched out on his horse. He had already completed his morning chores, and felt like staring at a herd of bison that had wandered too close for the village’s comfort. He would keep an eye on it, but the bulls and cows seemed as lackadaisical as he was.

He was bored, certainly, but happy. He was left alone when he went on scout duty. His gifts afforded him the luxury of not needing another scouting companion. He heard a cucking below him. The lapinota looked down and saw that his favorite hen, half-a-feather, had dutifully followed him.

The bird flapped up to join the rider on his horse.

“Half-a-feather, you know you’re supposed to stay home. When will you brood? You need to find yourself a rooster! I can not do what you wish of me!” The lapinota sat up on his horse and looked behind him at the hen. The bird picked at a fly.

Manstin laughed, returning his attention to the heard. The bison were now acting strange. They had all stood up.

Their ancient, heavy faces were now pointed skyward. When did bison care about the sky? The rabbit tried to decipher what was happening. What were they looking at?

 

[Isola Rin]

Do you see it, beyond the darkness...

I see it, the stars...

No...further....

"Further..."

It was the last word she spoke before shifting the ship into hyperdrive, the stars disappeared, melting into a spiral of silver and blue. Nothing seemed to bother her the consequences of what she was doing; Loa felt right, the need to move, to flow between the waves that washed around her, drawing her further into a meditation that she had yet to understand. It wasn't the first time, she had done it many times before, losing herself into something larger, the warmth and calm as though the nature of the galaxy had forgotten about the war and the turmoils of beings. She could be in that state for hours and certainly for hours Loa had stayed until she felt herself react without hesitation, pulling the ship from hyperspace, the stars settling in their place.

She was quiet, her own breath seemed to have froze as she looked upon the orb against the star speckled space. It was though she were waking for a long sleep, her limbs seemed still weak, somewhat paralyzed and unable to move fully as she looked at the navi-computer trying to determine how long she was out and where she was located, but nothing came up that she recognized. Her thoughts stirred, questioning her intention, Was this not what she had seen and now come to find?

The girl flicked a few switches before she orbited the world, picking up on several life readings and a sustainable atmosphere. All was good so far, but she was certain of what she was looking for. The ship vibrated as she broke through the layers of the atmosphere, gliding down as she visually scanned the area, recalling the dreams as it begun to match the scenery around her. "This is so weird..." she whispered seeing a herd of creatures up ahead. Her senses reached outward, the world felt so different, untouched to the point where its peacefulness made her slightly uneasy.

Finding a clearing in a field, she quickly grabbed her bag and her staff and exited from the ship, breathing in sharply which was followed by a coughing fit. Upon her recovering, she walked to the edge of a hill, trying to decide where to start.

 

[Manstin]

What was that?

It looked like a stone at first, as if some child had thrown a rock with remarkable talent that would make Manstin envious. When the object moved closer, it got bigger. A...House? How was a house falling through the sky? Manstin squinted to make sense of the details. It moved like a bird. A flying house?

The bison did not take to curiosity. They rumbled and bellowed as they began a stampede away from the unidentified object. The ground shook from their hooves and panic. They charged towards Manstin, forcing his horse to rear back and throw off its rider.

It was a miracle that prevented Manstin from becoming flattened. There was a strange screech in the air, like a terror bird. Manstin's ears fluffed in surprise.

When the herds had stormed off and left behind only dust, a started rabbit sat up to see that the flying house had completed its descent. Half-a-Feather flapped her wing angrily and created the avian version of swear words with her clucking. Manstin grabbed the hen and stood on his feet. A house had just fallen from the sky.

Perhaps it was an offering from the spirits, or a test of his wit. Manstin would have to trend carefully. With his hunting knife in hand, he began to move through the land, sulking like a feral cat while trying to balance a chicken in his arms. He felt ridiculous. What would he do when he got a flying house? Manstin imagined himself being the envy of the village.

He heard a cough. Had someone found his house first? Manstin's long ears popped up over the grasses. Was that...a girl?

It looked like a girl, but there were no ears. Her skin was like the color of a fish's belly, but slightly flower colored? She had the strangest clothes Manstin had ever seen. And she walked through the fields with a careless pace like she had never fought a savage badger or cat. Who was she? Did she come with the house?

The hen kept making her whining clucking sounds.

"<Half-a-feather. We're scouting. She might be a deer woman coming to tempt me.>" Manstin whispered.

 

[Isola Rin]

The life on this world was so different from anywhere she had been; it made it hard to focus, she wanted to take it in all at once as her eyes swept quickly across the horizon until she heard an odd clucking noise. Loa paused to listen more carefully before using the Force to narrow in on the senses around her. The best she could describe the feeling was as though someone were watching her, which wouldn't surprise the young apprentice, she was a foreigner on a world she had never seen.

Slowly, Loa crept forward, her head tilted slightly to carefully listen with her senses aided by the Force, the ripples bounced around her, feeling the invisible energy field that fed into her natural curiosity. In the grasses there was something that wasn't quite the same, it was enough to put the girl on the side of caution, though instead of proceeding, she stopped and stabbed her staff into the dirt to keep it upright.

She held out her hands in front of her, palms face one another as she focused, feeling the cool grass in front of her as she opened her arms, the blades of grass moved to her command, revealing the Lapinota and his bird. Loa just seemed to freeze, holding the pushed back grass in place as she tried to figure what exactly she was looking at before releasing the grass blades, letting them cover up Manstin and his chicken.

The confused teen looked around around, expecting an obvious answer, but nothing seemed apparent and she lowered her arms.

"Hello?" she spoke, her brow furrowed in confusion and uncertainty.

 

[Manstin]

The grass moved on its own, shifted by a strange wind. Manstin gasped and held Half-a-feather close to him. He spun around, feeling open and vulnerable. How did the grass move? What spirit would do such a thing? His wide eyes locked with her perplexed gaze. How was she confused? If she was spirit, then wouldn't she know of him?

Perhaps there was a greeting, or a dance one was expected to perform? The girl was strange. She looked too young to be wandering out by herself in the middle of dangerous fields. Then again, she had a flying house. There was something else. A pull. A feeling in his mind that told him to talk to the woman. He did not have to be afraid.

When the grass fell back, Manstin approached the woman with caution. If he had to, he would throw the chicken at her. That hen had tormented many a egg-eating snake.

The woman spoke some secret word. Was it an incantation of sorts? Manstin tilted his head. They were both of same height. He walked towards her, each step intentional. He took special note of her feet, which were not in a dress and did not look deer-shaped.

He stopped, less that a palm's length from her. He sniffed her air. She had the scent of something acrid. It was like the way fire smelled when it burned foul-smelling plants. Everything about her was different. She didn't have soft downy fuzz as he did. Manstin's lapin-like eyes narrowed. He needed to get to the bottom of this flying house.

"Hau mushay. <Have you traveled far? I have never seen a rabbit like you.>"

 

[Isola Rin]

Loa watched as he seemed unfazed by herself, there was curiosity, but caution, his steps were slower and he seemed to shift the bird slightly. When she had spoken, he tilted his head, but kept coming toward her and Loa would never admit it, but she was panicking internally. She wasn't sure what to do, she never learned this from her Master, nor in any of her school lessons. But then before she could think further, they were standing nearly nose to nose and she could swear she just saw and heard him sniff her.

The girl watched him carefully, but didn't move until he spoke, and she nearly jumped ten feet backwards, "ok, now...hold up..." she said hold up her hands to keep her distance from him, but didn't feel anything hostile. She had no idea what he said, but she knew Master Silas gave her a lesson in this, not only that, she recalled her experience on Chalacta and trying to understand the local dialects. There was a need for trust and she knew she needed to place it somewhere.

Her eyes traced from the top of his ears and down his body and instinctively, she felt herself brush her own ears with her fingertips. She tried to quickly think of what his species could be, but nothing seemed to match to what she knew. Reaching into the Force, she tried to think how to ask, how to explain who she was, she was never that good at charades.

"Hau mushay?" she repeated the phrase and turned to look at her ship and then to the sky and back to Manstin and frowned, shrugging her shoulders; uncertain she sighed and reached out with an open palm, letting the staff come back to her and then bowed. The girl's senses shifted, feeling something not too far away and she became uneasy, turning slightly to prepare for something that was watching, waiting for them to drop their guard.

 

[Manstin]

Manstin gave a chuckle. Hau mushay was for greeting a woman. Manstin felt confident that he embodied the finest traits of a young, handsome buck. Maybe this spirit was testing his manners. Certainly, many bucks would be offended at being called a doe. They would huff, retort with a mean word. But if Manstin wanted to get on this spirit's good side, he would need a sense of humor.

"<I'm a boy. Can't you tell?>" He laughed. His bright teeth and dark eyes sparkled. He then lifted his shirt off.

"<See? No breasts.>" He smiled. He then took a moment to show off his muscles. When the girl did not seem impressed by his showing off, he looked at her face. She seemed distracted. By what? Manstin's ears twitched towards the north. His intuition, that part of himself that had never failed him, implored him to focus on the horizon line.

It was a cat.

"<Cat.>" Manstin said with a spit to the ground and a huff. "<I hope your house isn't far.>"

 

[Isola Rin]

The girl did a double take as he begun to take off his shirt, her eyes widened with surprise as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment at his pectoral finesse. He said something, but Loa didn't know what he was saying until he seemed to become more seriousness, detecting what she had felt. "/Cat?/" she repeated his disgust and looked back out onto the grassy plain, the Force flowed through her until the creature leaped from its hiding spot and the girl sent a burst of energy straight at the creature from her palm; the Force shined within her as the cat was knocked backwards and Loa slowly took a few steps toward it.

However, the feline seemed confused by this sudden turn of events, moving to a defense as it arched it's back and swiped, hissing at Loa who mimicked the cat, swiping her arm as flames followed its path. The cat backed away some more upon seeing the fire and Loa yelled at the cat, waving her arm again with the flames that followed, igniting unassisted in the air. It was enough to turn the cat away, tail tucked between its legs and Loa watched carefully, feeling the Force for anymore danger. She felt quite proud of herself, she didn't have to hurt the cat and protected herself and the long-eared rabbit man who she turned to face, fists placed on her hips and her chin slightly tilted upward in her confidence.

"Not too shabby, eh?" she grinned, but frowned realizing he probably didn't know what she was saying still. She wanted to know more of where she was, who he was; to tell him she came from distant stars if they didn't know about about other worlds. Loa inhaled slowly and let out a sigh, scratching her head in thought as she tried to decide the best course for the both of them. She could just get back on her ship and leave, find someone more knowledgable about these sort of things and then come back, but she feared she would never find this place again.

Loa turned her trust to the Force, searching for the guidance she usually sought for in her Master; maybe she needed to trust this new being knew more than she had assumed and she felt a warmth stir inside, a pull that she new to instinctively trust. She had found something she was surely no others have found before and she was going to greatly enjoy this, her frown leaving and a smile returned "What is this world?" she waved indicating the land around her, "And who are you? You have ears like a rabbit, but you look humanish..." Loa tried to avoid eyeing the abs, and then patted the center of her chest, "I am Isola."

 

[Manstin]

Manstin's mouth dropped. This was the strangest thing he had ever seen. Was it a vision? No, he had those before and they were never this...this. Whatever this was. How was he going to explain this to the village?

There ad been times when a village or two thought Manstin had some kind of direct connection to the spirits of the world. Manstin would be inclined to believe them, but what he was able to do was a child's trick compared to fire coming out of your hands. The rabbit man should have been afraid. He should have run in terror. This girl could have killed him the minute she saw him.

But she didn't, and that was an important detail. What was she saying? Manstin scratched behind his ears as he attempted to recall other nation's languages. None came to mind. Manstin made a few attempts to communicate with trade language, his hands creating symbols to represent "name?" "cat?" and " girl?"

It didn't seem to have any use.

"<you can't understand me, and I can't understand you.>" Manstin sighed as his ears dropped. Half-a-feather pecked at his stomach before the rabbit gently let her down on the ground to scratch and forage for grasshoppers. The girl spoke a phrase and then motioned to herself.

"<Isla? Eeohla? Isola? Your name is hard. Manstin->" He pointed to himself. He then narrowed his eyes at the flying house that rested on the ground.

"<house? We go in house?>" Maybe she could give them both a lift, since his horse had run off and was possibly miles away.

 

[Isola Rin]

He caught onto something as he finally repeated her name and she nodded with glee, wathcing him carefully as he spoke some more, mimicking what she did by pointing to himself and indicated something. "Manstin?" Her eyes narrowed looking for confirmation, but he seemed to be interested in her ship. Loa turned slightly looking at the piece of junk she took...well "borrowed" on Andara from the construction engineers. Internally, Loa grimaced knowing she wasn't going to be back anytime soon to return it and Master Silas was going to be too grumpy for her to even deal with.

Loa pointed to the ship, "Ship." she told him, but bobbed her head thinking of the specifics, "Light Freighter. Totally the flying garbage of the galaxy." she frowned, but then got an idea, grabbing his hand and his chicken she quickly dragged the two to her ship, "C'mon, it'll be cool, especially if you never been in one, trust me!" she told him knowing he didn't understand her words, but what he would understand was the feelings she projected through the Force, telling Manstin to follow and things would be safe.

Up the ramp she tossed her bag and staff in a corner and raised the ramp; with the chicken under her arm, she headed into the cockpit, "Manstin, c'mon!" she called out and plopped the chick in the empty seat, waiting for Manstin to follow. She begun flipping some switches, warming up the engines; her light eyes fell onto the window, watching as large birds seemed to swoop down into the valleys well far away from them.

 

[Manstin]

Ship? Was that her word for house? Manstin trusted her, he felt a warm feeling in his gut. It told him to follow her.

Manstin never saw such a strange home. Where was the cooking fire? Where were places of comfort and warmth? Everything looked hard and cold. He touched surfaces, the strange lights that twinkled like stars on flat, sterile surfaces. They were cold to the touch. What sort of build was this? What could command flight, fire, and light?

Half-a-feather walked to a surface that was shiny like silver. She pecked at it, clucking in curiosity. She seem rather disapproving of the affair.

"<Ola, spirit, your house is strange to me. What do you need it for?>" Manstin asked, he looked out the window as Isola did, watching the Thunderbirds in the distance. If it wasn't for songbirds and chickens, Manstin would despise birds. Large, terrifying ball of feathers that could take out bison.

"<at least we're in here, and not out there.>" he said.

 

[Isola Rin]

Loa patted the seat for him to sit as she begun to flip switches, she didn't bother to force him to sit if he didn't want to, he would figure out fairly quick if he could stand against the physical forces of the ship. She glanced at him as he spoke, his eyes on the birds, Loa could tell there was some relief in his voice, with good reason as the birds looked as though they could pick up rancors. A coy grin curled along her check as she got an idea, the ship jerked slightly as it rose off the ground before Loa accelerated the ship forward straight for the birds.

She flipped another switch, turning on the shields as she quickly approached the birds who seemed to have found something of their liking in the valley bellow, but what they were definitely not expecting was a flying metal house come straight at them. Confused, they went on the defense, quickly scattering as Loa shifted the yoke hard, turning the ship at a sharp angle to chase around the birds. A couple begun their retreat into the trees of the forest while others decided to head away into the valley, flapping their wings hard to get away as fast as they could. The girl lowered the shields once the birds were no longer in sight and piloted the ship at a slower pace, which felt like a crawl to the young pilot.

Loa was grinning big as she looked to Manstin to gauge his reaction, she hoped he enjoyed it as she circled the ship back around, gaining some altitude to better look at the landscape below. She leaned forward slightly catching something from the corner of her eye as a village came into view, "Is that your home?" she asked pointing in the direction, "Are there more like you?" she asked him, curiosity clearly filling her thoughts as she looked back at the village.

 

[Manstin]

Manstin hadn't been ready when the ship jerked. He nearly fell off his feet. Hustling to sit next to the girl as she performed a strange ritual, he could hear the blood pumping in his ears.

They were flying. Manstin's arm's were shaking from excitement. This was not at all how he expected his day to go. When the ship dashed towards the sacred, but terrifying, thunderbirds Manstin was laughing from the adrenaline rush. This was like the feeling of hunting mammoths! It was better than that! It was like kissing an elder's granddaughter right before getting caught.

He saw his village, and the inhabitants saw them and began to scream in alert. Certainly they were rushing to get the elders now. Manstin couldn't wait to see their faces when he stepped out of the flying house, they would be telling that story for ages!

"<There! Go there.>" The rabbit was giggling. He watched with glee as the ship slowly and carefully descended into a clearing near where he called home.

When then ramp opened to let him out, Manstin bounded out with all his charm and charisma on display.

"<Behold! It is I! For the great spirits have bestowed on us this great dwelling! They asked me to deliver it onto you!>" Manstin proudly bragged. He was like watching a rooster strut.

The village had turned out in its entirety. The Elders, all five of them, were front and center with mouths agape. They looked at the flying house, then looked at Manstin in disbelief. Elder Willow-That-Never-Breaks, Willow for short, finally stepped forward. Her eyes returned to look at Manstin.

"<Is that what you think?>" The old woman chastised, her graying ears flattened.

"<um, yes?>" Manstin replied.

"<Eyes always watching, but never seeing. You refuse to put in work to hunt a trout, but you bring this instead? You better explain how this will help.>" Willow growled.

"<Um, Elder Willow-I-uh.>" The arrogant Manstin now acted like a caught disobedient child. <Oh! It can hunt for us!>"

"<There are no arrows.>"

"<I watched it chase a Thunderbird!>"

"<Sacred Thunderbirds. I'm sure their spirits will appreciate the pranks you pull on them.>"

"<We can move!>"

"<Where? Why? Hunting and crops are good here. We have been safe from predators for years.>"

"<I-uh->"

"<What you brought to us is no more useful than wet sand.>" Elder Willow fussed. Manstin's ears dropped. This wasn't at all how he expected it to go.

"<What is that?!>" Willow gasped. Manstin turned around. Oh, they had finally spotted Ola.

"< I think she's a deer-woman.>" Manstin replied. Elder Willow limped towards the girl. She sniffed Ola's air, just as Manstin had done. Elder Willow touched the girl's hands, ears, and then tapped at Ola's feet with a stick.

"<Come. Bring her to the lodge. I sense something about that one.>" Elder Willow said. The other Elders and the villagers began to mumble among themselves.

Manstin waved for Ola to follow him.

 

[Isola Rin]

The rabbit directed her where to land and Loa followed, setting the ship down gently as she powered down the engines and lowered the ramp to where Manstin was already hurrying off with a bit of a shake to his step. The girl grabbed the chicken, knowing the last thing she needed was for it to start eating wirings. The whole village seemed to surround them; she could feel eyes on her, but Manstin was putting on a show and the facial expressions and other gestures from the older ones and Manstin told Loa exactly what she needed to know.

"Interesting..." she whispered, quirking an eyebrow as she watched them until the older rabbit woman took notice to her. The girl felt her cheeks redden and the chicken let out a gurgle as Loa squeezed it closer to herself as the elder approached. She remained still as they sniffed at her like Manstin before touching her hands, ears and her feet. "Hey now..." Loa took a step back from the elder reclaiming some of her personal space. The chicken started picking at her clothes and the girl placed it back onto the ground as she saw Manstin waving for her to follow. Her senses stretched outward as she followed, she noted their clothing and their dwellings as she passed the other rabbit people following Manstin into the lodge.

The girl stood quietly, her thoughts were also quiet as she took in what she was seeing; she partially wished she paid more attention to early galactic explorers who travelled across wild space to make the outer rim as it was today. She was certain that would have required spending time in the library and grimaced internally at that idea. Once inside she glanced to Manstin, trying to get a read of what was going on, from what she could induct, they were certain curious about her, they haven't killed her on site yet, which was also good. The girl breathed in slowly and let out a quiet breath, feeling herself calm as she search for guidance in the Light.

 

[Manstin]

The home of the elders smelled of dried bison, herbs, and burnt wood. The cooking fire in the center in its present state was merely coals ready to be stoked into flame. Manstin gulped. This was serious. He had caused trouble, but he had never been summoned to a full meeting with the elders in private like this. He wished Ola could say anything in their tongue. Anything to explain herself and her flying house.

Elder Willow sat by the coals, motioning for Manstin and Isola to do the same.

"<I feel the rumbling of a tremor, Eyes-Always-Watching.>" Elder Willow took out bones, sticks and stones from a pouch and stirred them within a pot. She motioned for elders to hand her a bundle of white sage. Elder Willow then lit the end of it until it gave off a heavy perfumed smoke.

"<Your medicine bag, boy.>" Manstin meekly handed a leather pouch to Elder Willow.

"<The spirits guide us with intention, even if we can not see their design. Yellow. Black. Red. White. Four stages of life. Four seasons. Four directions. Except for you.>" Elder Willow purified the air with a chant and the sage. She asked the spirits for their dignity, their divinity, and their mercy. She took some of the plants from Manstin's pouch and mixed it with the bones, sticks, and stones. She then took the ash from the burning sage and added it.

"<The girl is not a deer woman, but she brings danger. She brings your fate.>" Elder Willow was channeling the Force, through invocation and ritual. But The Force was not acknowledged as the Eldder's source of wisdom.

"<You will never have four directions, nor will you ever have one. Go with that girl, and your enemy will number in the thousands.>"

The pot was emptied onto the ground, a nearly perfect web was formed from the sacred tools of sight. in the center, were the dried herbs from Manstin's pouch.

"< You will have to be cunning. Be full of tricks. I can not understand your paths anymore. They number like stars. It is neither good, nor evil.>"

"<So what should I do?>" Manstin asked.

"<What does it matter? You have always done what you've wanted.>" Elder Willow chuckled. She gathered the tools and began to cleanse them in water. Manstin groaned out loud while rubbing his face.

"<So you can't figure out what she's saying?>" he asked.

"<No one here can. But She has a home with more of her kind. She'll bring you to them if you get in that house again.>"

The meeting was wrapped up. Each Elder looking solemn. They regarded Manstin differently now. They were almost...was it fear? Manstin didn't like it. He already missed being chastised. He would have rather a lecture. Seeing Half-a-Feather scratching outside the Elder's home, he summoned the bird to follow him.

"<Ola, What is Home? Um, where is house?>"Manstin was trying to find out more of Isola's origin. He was even more curious about her. How did her fate affects his so drastically? Manstin started to gently poke her. She was skinny. She was so odd looking.

 

[Isola Rin]

Loa scrunched up her nose trying to figure out what she was smelling inside, but she refocused on the elders and Manstin who motioned for her to sit next to him. She watched in awe as the Elder begun her ritual. She had not seen such superstitious practices except for the time on Chalacta where darkness had settled. However, her senses told her it was not darkness that noted from the others in the room. What pulled Loa in more was when she could feel the Force flow through Willow as she chanted and then poured out the contents in order to read what it said. Her eyes switched swiftly between Manstin and the Elder as she watched their reactions and felt their feelings through the Force, however, as the meeting wrapped up, the girl felt the coldness of fear.

Her eyes shifted to each of the Elders and though she could not understand their tongue, she recognized that look. She had received the same when she was detained on Tython and the same when the other children discovered she was receiving special training from Master Silas. The girl got to her feet and followed Manstin, glancing one more time to the Elders before leaving the hut completely. She wanted to comfort Manstin, to share his worry, but hesitated.

He spoke to her again and through the Force, Loa listened. But soon he was poking at her and she swatted his hand away, giving him a warning look. She felt the urge to try to explain where she had come from, but that was a difficult one for her to decide what was home. Her orphanage was home she would guess, she wasn't sure how to explain she used the Force to guide her here. She pointed to the sky, glancing up, seeing the moon still peaking through the light of the sun, "The Stars..." there was a neighing from the horses and Loa turned to see some of the rabbits attending to the creatures. One even took off on top of the horse; though they didn't look like the creatures she was familiar with, Loa was fascinated.

Manstin would feel her pull him close as she pointed to the animals, "What are those?" she asked, "Can we ride them too? Do you have one or do you just have chickens." she asked, giving Half-a-Feather a look.

 

[Manstin]

She pointed skyward. He understood now that she really did come from some other spiritual place. However, Manstin couldn't understand what the word could be translated into for his language. He was ready to feel sorry for himself, at the precariousness of his fate and if he was better off going or staying, when Ola pointed to the horses.

"<You never seen a horse? That makes sense. You never needed one. I have at least one other.>" Manstin lead Ola to his home, where a flock of other chickens pecked and scratched at the ground. They chuckled and grunted to themselves. One horse grazed lazily nearby, Short-ears. Another was eating apples from a basket, Trouble-foot.

"<Hey! You're back already!>" Manstin perked up. He removed the apples from Trouble-foot and patted the horse's side. Manstin looked at Ola and then his horses.

"<Let's have you get on Short-ears. She's a lot nicer than Trouble-foot. Ah. This is sunkawakhan." He patted Trouble-foot. Then he patted Short-ears and repeated the phrase sunkawakhan. He patted both horses at the same time and said the phrase a third time. Short-ears sniffed at Ola, then started to mouth her clothes.

"<I'll help you hop on. But I'm leading.>" He slipped a bridle into Short-ears mouth and then helped Ola onto her horse. He then got back on Trouble-foot holding both horses' leads.

He guided them around the village. Manstin pointed at various objects calling them by name. He identified the dogs, bees, children, and rocks. He pointed to the far away mountains and the fish within the lake nearby. The air was clean, perfumed by trees and grass.

"< If I go? I go for a long time? I get to come home?>" Manstin asked.

 

[Isola Rin]

Loa followed as he lead her to his home, there were certainly more chickens and Loa eyed him, questions floating in her mind as she scooped up on that seemed smaller than the others. He had the creatures also and seemed happy to see one of them as he removed the apples from from the Horse's reach. He patted the creature and repeated a phrase. He then repeated it and Loa smiled, "I get it, sunkawakhan..." she nodded and then held up the bird, "Chicken." her grin widened before she let go of the bird who hastily returned back to the others.

She seemed to have a natural knack for climbing, but allowed the rabbit man to help her onto the horse as he also got onto his own. It wasn't as fast as a speeder or a ship and felt a mild disappointment as she didn't feel her stomach press against her back when the horse jerked to a stop. Certainly it was not anything like the transportation at home. Regardless, there was serenity to it as the girl inhaled and let out a long breath while Manstin pointed out various objects. She repeated the word he gave it and she gave him her world for the object.

Though as they circled the village the topic changed, she could tell he was inquiring about something and her eyes looked to her ship and Loa frowned, a part of her didn't want to take him off this world, but she understood his curiosity, if she were given the opportunity, she would eventually travel to every part of the galaxy.

The girl looked to the sky, "You wouldn't like it." she frowned, her voice falling somber, the Force stirred as she reached out to him to help him better understand her words, "There is only war, no peace, so many children without homes...and heroes who can't protect those who need it the most." Loa looked down, studying the horse's mane, combing it gently with her finger tips.