Ask Horrible First Impression

[Ana DAmico]

Ana followed Renfry’s gesture out into the jungle, taking a moment to parse what she meant. She’d heard the analogy before – or was she the one who made it? – long ago, and she knew exactly where Renfry was coming from with it. There was a primal, immutable truth to the galaxy; the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. This was the case with predators and prey on worlds like this as much as it was the case with Sith ruling over mundane society or gang lords ruling over common dregs.

”Exactly,” she said in agreement, ”But there’s more to it that just hunter and prey.” She returned her gaze to Renfry, debating with whether or not she wanted to share with the woman her view of the galaxy and where the Sith would be in it. She and Talak had this talk years ago, and his words still echoed within her. For a moment, her mind turned to where he might be in the galaxy and whether he felt satisfied with the empire he was working towards. It had been a while since she had any kind of philosophical talk with her peers, and she figured most were content with the status quo under the cruel yoke of the Eternal.

”The ways of the Old Sith brought ruin,” she finally said, turning her gaze outward again to watch the rain, ”They sought power for the sake of power. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge. They collapsed, and all the galaxy has to show for it are ruined memorials and hidden tomes.” The corners of her lips curled downwards into a slight frown and she shook her head. She let a sigh escape before smiling wistfully.

”Things could be worse,” she said vaguely, still watching the rain. There was something calming about it, even though her head pounded. ”But it’s starting to get cold. You’re sure you have no way of keeping us warm?”

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry was genuinely caught off guard by what she heard Ana say. And here she had thought the other Sith idolized the ancient Sith, but now she criticized them. Renfry had yet to decide if this was a good or a bad thing.

Then what did Ana want? She didn't appreciate the accumulation of knowledge and power? Then what did she want? What did she fight for?

She didn't have time to ask the questions before Ana moved onto their survival. Probably a good idea, all things considered.

I can make fire, but it needs something to burn, she said. She wasn't going to drain herself by sustaining a manifested fire all night. So, she made her way over to the cave entrance and ran a hand over the runes, lowering the defensive barrier and slipping outside.

It was only a few minutes later when she returned with a bundle of wood in her arms, re-erected the barrier, and set the wood down on the ground. After a few minutes more, a fire was going and Renfry sat back against the wall of the cave. She had spent nights in places like this many times before.

She fell asleep a short time later and didn't wake till morning, seeming to have no difficult sleeping on the stone floor. She stretched, feeling refreshed as the rays of light came into the cave. The rain had thankfully stopped and the sun had come out.

You ready to get moving? she asked. She felt as if something was calling to her. There was something on this world she needed to find. It had to have been why they came here.

 

[Ana DAmico]

Ana’s eyes followed Renfry as she dropped the protective barrier in front of the cave. For the time she was gone, Ana fully expected the universe, in its wacky cosmic fashion, to have sent some kind of apex jungle predator into the mouth of the cave to chew her up and spit her out. Thankfully, whatever monsters were out there seemed to be kept at bay by the torrential downpour, too. It wasn’t long before Renfry returned with enough firewood to keep them warm throughout the night. As the fire was lit, Ana scooted closer and sat cross-legged, staring into it while her partner drifted off to sleep.

Morning came, and with it, a new days’ worth of troubles. Ana rubbed her eyes wearily, then looked over at the stirring Renfry. She hadn’t slept more than a few minutes at a time, fearful of the head injury she suffered. Instead, she sat awake and watched the fire. Dark bags had formed beneath her eyes – more so than usual, anyways. A quiet yawn escaped her lips as she pushed herself to her feet.

”Yeah,” she replied, looking out into the jungle. Everything was wet and it was even more unbearably humid, but at least it wasn’t raining anymore. The fire and shelter helped dry the two of them off, at least, so they wouldn’t be slogging through the jungle soaked again. She waited for Renfry to prepare to move out, then set off into the jungle. They were on a general course towards their goal, but without the ship’s navigation or any of their belongings – which were undoubtedly submerged in the wreckage – they’d have a harder time finding their prize.

Despite that, there was a lingering, and faint, whisper of the Dark Side. It wasn’t anything loud enough to immediately draw her attention, but if she listened closely enough, it called out to her. There was something of considerable evil here reaching out to them, beckoning them to journey towards and find it. They just needed to listen to the Force.

As they walked, she looked over at Renfry. ”Do you feel that?” she asked, wondering if the woman could sense it as well.

 

[Renfry]

Renfry felt much more at home here than on many other worlds, and it was good to see that her partner wasn't dead during the night. In contrast to her partner, Renfry had slept quite well, and made her way out of the cave and into the sun quickly.

It was already getting humid, which was its own trial, but the scent of the Force here was strong enough to be unmistakable to her.

Yes, she said with a nod. She continued her pace through the jungle, adeptly making her way over and under branches along the way and closing in on the feeling like a bloodhound.

What do you think it is? she asked, reaching out with her senses to try to get a better gauge. There was... the strength of the Force, but something else. She felt people or beings of some sort. Was there a Force sensitive sect on this world? Similar to the time she had spent in the wilds of Felucia?

It seems like people. Is there any information on the inhabitants of this world? she asked. Whatever info they had had was gone and that was assuming there had been any in the first place. @Painus

 

[Ana DAmico]

Ana spent a second untangling herself from a particularly aggressive vine before continuing along the jungle. This planet was constantly testing her patience, and it took a considerable deal of self-control to not blindly lash out at the vegetation. Together, the two homed in on the familiar feeling of intense Dark Side corruption, beelining towards it with a ravenous hunger for knowledge.

Ana glanced sidelong at Renfry, then reached out with the Force on her own. The unmistakable odor of the Dark Side was there, but it was not alone. She could feel many other signatures in the Force alongside it, surrounding it. This world was relatively unknown to her, and she had no idea what to expect. The fact that they found other sapient life forms on the planet was a complete shock to her.

”Ehrm… no,” she muttered as they walked towards the pack of inhabitants, ”I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be here.” Curiosity overwhelmed her, and, rather than take it slowly and tactically, she surged forward with renewed vigor. Natives on this world? She wanted to know more! She didn’t even look back as she quickened her pace towards the signatures ahead, eager to reveal the secrets of this world.

Pushing through a dense patch of vegetation, Ana entered a clearing occupied by two dozen, maybe more, humanoid inhabitants. They were clad in various furs and pelts, thoroughly soaked with blood, and looked to be in the middle of some kind of religious rite. They were gathered around a bloodied totem, and the largest of the pack seemed to be holding a heart above it.

Ana’s interruption immediately drew their attention, and suddenly she felt very, very awkward as the natives all turned in unison to regard her, both with utter surprise and hate. She sheepishly raised a hand in greeting, then quickly looked around for Renfry.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry was skeptical. She was from a world where the natives weren't open to other people. On Felucia the natives who lived in the jungle weren't particularly friendly either. Now she was here, and she couldn't expect the ones who lived here to be very kind either.

Wait, we... but Ana was already off running through jungle. Renfry started moving through the jungle after her, keeping pace but the woman didn't seem interested in slowing or listening.

She burst out into a clearing ahead and Renfry stopped at edge of the bushes. Ana extended her hand to... wave?! You have got to be kidding!

Renfry's eyes were wide in shock and annoyance and she didn't emerge from the bushes.

Get back in cover! she hiss-whispered as she, herself, kept moving along the treeline.

By this point, the first arrow and spear were hurled at Ana as she stood there with a shrill cry of alarm rising.

Renfry didn't wait for Ana as she kept moving to try to get around the back of the village so she could slip in unseen. She was sure Ana wouldn't mind being the distraction. Why, she'd practically volunteered by running out into the open!

 

[Ana DAmico]

Where was Renfry?

Ana glanced behind her for her comrade, then to the side, then panned her gaze back to the equally stunned natives. For a moment, both sides seemed to just stare at each other awkwardly, and Ana slowly began to inch back towards the vegetation at the command of her hidden peer.

Of course, moving had the exact effect that she figured would happen, and within moments very sharp things began to fly towards them. Ana yelped and ducked under a particularly-gruesome spear; was the haft of it made out of bone? The weapon embedded in a tree trunk and she was sure it was soon to be followed by many, many more.

She ducked into the wood line behind Renfry as arrows and spears hissed overhead and into the jungle. The natives had begun to whoop, holler, and shout out as they began to pursue her. She realized how royally screwed she was in that instant; these people doubtlessly knew the surrounding area far, far better than she did, so trying to evade them was… probably a lost cause. She didn’t want to fight because, well, slaughtering a village of previously-maybe-possibly-peaceful-minus-the-heart-sacrifice-thing natives wasn’t entirely the best route. Overt Dark Side villainy aside, she doubted she could just wade through a sea of enemies and cut them down, even with Renfry’s help.

She hoped Renfry had a plan, because so far, her only idea was to keep running around the jungle while arrows and other ranged implementations of cruel, agonizing means of killing whizzed past.

In fact, where was Renfry?

She lost the woman about fifty yards into her mad dash to safety. How’d she do that?

Was she being the distraction?

 

[Renfry]

Renfry continued to snake around the village toward the backside as the locals ran off after Ana. Really was bad news to be in Ana's position....

She made her way in, toward one of the huts, hoping to find some sign of... something about this village. Most of the buildings were empty at this point, some neat and tidy while others were disheveled.

She stumbled across one that appeared more ornate, larger, and more... off world. Something about it immediately struck Renfry as out of place.

Hey, Ana, I think I may have found something, she said into her comlink, seemingly having forgotten that Ana was being chased through the jungle by a large pack of angry locals who wanted to rip out her heart and... eat it? Who even knew what they wanted to do with it. @Painus