Ask Oasis

[Caul]

Caul crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the cool duracrete wall just outside a cafe in Saleucami Town. He and a few other Padwan had been sent to learn about the agricultural benefits of the planet in order to round out their understanding of farming, a notion that Caul found to be incredibly boring… He wasn’t a farmer he was a Jedi, why in the hell would he ever need to learn about farming?!

Truthfully, he wasn’t really upset about the mission. It was nice to be on a planet and not on Starlight. The real problem was… He closed his eyes and pushed his irritation from his mind. Dwelling on what he couldn’t change wouldn’t change it. It would just make him a whiny brat and he wasn’t interested in wasting his time pouting… Even if it was what he wanted to do…

They were loaded up into a faded yellow speeder bus and Caul made his way to the back. He sank into a seat at the very back of the bus, slouched down, and pulled out his force puzzle. This was gonna be a long trip.

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

Theia missed the days of chartered transportation; she was told by other masters the cheapness was to humble one's self, but she couldn't even come close to agreeing that having the cheapest things was humbling. She was back on Saleucami with some other padawans for some farm exposition. She wasn't a farmer, but she liked to tend to the flower beds back at the estate on Naboo. She made sure to bring her sketch book in order to take some pictorial notes on the crops or whatever else was happening. Though she overheard someone speaking about picking up nerf poop and immediately she felt her stomach sink.

The redheaded padawan sat near the back, there was someone in the seat behind her working on a puzzle and Theia popped up and leaned over the back of her seat. "Hey!" she said getting his attention with a small wave and smile, "Do you really think they're gonna make us clean up nerf manure when we get there?" she asked, her face contorted with worry. Her gaze when from him to the puzzle he had, her mind quickly losing its focus on the objective, "What's that you got?" she asked, grasping the seat just a little tighter as the speeder bus made a sharp turn down the rural roads.

@Zay

 

[Caul]

Caul was half way through solving his puzzle when a shock of red hair popped up over the seat in front of him. Startled, he sat up, grabbing the puzzle and looking at the girl as if she’d just waltzed into his private quarters without invitation.

“I… hope… not?” he managed.

Before he could gather his wits, she was already gesturing toward the puzzle in his hands and asking about it, “Just a force puzzle,” he said, holding it up for her to examine. It was a typical cube configuration. It could be manipulated by hand, but that kind of killed the point of the instrument.

“You wanna try? It’s pretty easy, but it helps keep the boredom at bay,” he said, with what he knew was an awkward smile. Why was he so bad at talking to people?

Caul leaned forward from his seat crossing his arms and resting them and his chin on the back of her seat.

“I say if they try to make us shovel dung we bail. There’s more to learn about this place than the consistency of their banta poop,” he said with chuckle, “I’m Caul by the way, your name’s Thiea right? I feel like I’ve seen you in a few classes on Starlight.”

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

He held up the puzzle for her to examine and Theia took it, trying it out of herself. It was easy enough to figure out using her hands, but adding the Force was a whole new story for the padawan. As someone who struggled with focusing, she seemed to feel a moment of fixation as she focused, finding it harder than she expected. "This is...not easy at all." she frowned as she spoke quietly, but still was going at it. Though when he gave the proposition to bail if they had to do anything with nerf poop, she broke her focus, handing it back to him.

"Deal, I'd rather take a week of detentions from Master Agnes than do any of that." she sighed.

The padawan introduced himself as Caul, and he seemed to know her name, which didn't surprise her. Many knew her as "Master Throne's padawan" and he was clearly, at least from the rumors she heard, what all the jedi girls and guys were swooning over in the order. It was a feeling too familiar though, growing up in the shadows of greats and it made her always wonder if she would ever have enough light and even prestige to grow past them.

"Yeah! We're in the morning meditation group together." she said glancing out the window as their transport begun to slow down and it was clear there were large herds of banthas by the smell that penetrated the windows. "I don't like having to do that first thing in the morning."

@Zay

 

[Caul]

Caul chuckled, “Oh, c’mon it’s not that hard,” he cupped her hands in his the same way he’d been when he was taught how to use the puzzle, “Just focus on the color. It’s more about the manipulation than the equation, but once you get one down…” the puzzle began shifting and turning, “...The other isn’t far behind,” slowly he pulled his hands away, letting Theia maintain control of the puzzle. It was kinda like showing someone how to ride a bike now that he thought about it.

“Ugh, give me Agnes over Stokes anyday. If I have to hear one more lecture on the propensity of the living force in bread yeast, I’ll throw up,” he laughed.

It was strange chatting with someone randomly. There was a freedom to it. It was low to no stakes because there was no expectation. Sure, he could say something that made her not like him, but that was the fun of talking wasn't it? Funny, how easy that is to forget. Funny how grief makes even small moments like this one feel monumental.

Caul snapped with revelations as she mentioned morning meditation, “Lowkey, I just sleep. I love it because Master Badwani always thinks i'm in it deep, I’m just lucky I haven’t started snoring yet.”

The herd came into view and Caul felt his smile slip ever so slightly. He really didn’t want shovel bantha dung all day. The chauffer Jedi for the trip, Knight Bocephus, stood calling for everyone’s attention.

“Alright, Padawan’s today we will put our lesson’s to practical application. As we can all see out the left side—” As he spoke, Caul whispered to Theia, “When everyone stands up, I’ll pop the emergency door behind me, we slip out, close the door, and no one will be the wiser, you’re not gonna chicken out are you?”

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

Theia watched Caul's maneuver closely as he took the puzzle to show her how it was done; the girl frowned, thinking to herself she could simply do all that without the Force, but her mind often wandered. However, as she watched him do it and reassure it was not as difficult as it seemed, Theia felt more confident and her mind quieted as she took back over the puzzle, showing she now had a better handle on it after he showed her. A grin crossed her face as he spoke about the different masters they encountered and how they wrangle getting through lessons.

There was a click to the puzzle and Theia smiled, holding it up as she showed off her success, but it quickly faded along with Caul's as they realized they would be hanging out with banthas. She sunk a bit lower in the seat as everyone else turned to their attention at the Knight; Caul whispered their clearly fool-proof getaway plan, "No way, don't you be a snitch either, if we get caught, we're going down together." she said, eyes slightly narrowed in her attempt to be serious.

When Knight Bocephus gave everyone the signal they were getting off the shuttle, Theia followed quickly out the back door with Caul, keeping low as they quickly found large grain barrels to hide behind for the moment. Theia carefully watched and let out a sigh of relief as the other padawans walked with the Knight, picking up shovels as they readied their lesson in farming. "This place has a smell that I don't think I will not smell for the next six years of my life." she frowned as the wind picked up; she really wished she was back on Naboo. "Where should we go lay low for the next few hours?" she asked looking around.

@Zay

 

[Caul]

Caul’s expression was one of indignant confusion as he bit back, “This was my idea, why would I snitch on myself? Wait…” a sly smile spread across his lips, “You’re not scared are you?”

Before she could respond one way or another, Bocephus called the speeder bus to attention. As the other Jedi stood and fell in rank and file, Caul undid the emergency latch. For a moment he was frozen in place. He was sure the thing would have an alarm, but nothing happened. He chanced a look over his shoulder and saw Theia anxiously waiting for him to go, so he did.

WHAT WAS HE DOING?!!? HE WASN’T A BAD BOY, HE WAS A GOOD ONE! RIGHT?!?!

On the outside he was calm and moving. Probably a little too sharp, but it was better than getting caught and put on the front lines of poop duty. Hehehehee, poop duty. Straight ahead were a cluster of grain barrels, without a word the two Padawan found themselves behind them and out of sight of the Jedi Knight Bocephus.

Caul chuckled at Theia, “Yeah, I’ve never wanted to shave my nose hairs before, but the smell here makes it tempting,” her question gave him a pause, “Honestly, I didn’t think we’d make it this far,” he admitted. Just then a loth cat knocked over a compost bin and a voice with a strong outer rim accent said, “GAYT DANG IT, GO ON GIT!”

“C’mon!” whispered Caul, nodding toward the treeline, “Let’s see if we can figure out why this dung heap is called Oasis.”

Hunched over, Caul made his way toward the treeline. His heart was hammering out of his chest, he’d never overtly broken the rules like this, but he’d be damned if he was gonna waste a whole day off Starlight shoveling shit.

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

Theia bit her lip to keep herself from giggling through their daring escape from scooping poop. She grinned when Caul mentioned not thinking they would get this far, but it was clear either the Knight and the others didn't notice, or they did, but didn't care. Theia even would take it as far as them being jealous of herself and Caul for ditching this Agri-assignment. The teen froze when she heard something topple over and another begun to yell, Caul pointed over to the treeline and Theia nodded, following closely behind.

"They probably called it Oasis to get people to settle here." she said, not giving this place much hope given they were spending time on a nerf farm. "They used to do that in the colony systems to get people to come, and once they got there, it was near impossible to resettle elsewhere." she further explained, "Really a cheat of a system carried over from the old Empire." She pushed aside the ferns as they traveled further, the canopy of the trees darkened the forest floor, branches intertwined, rarely touched by man as it seemed unsettled by those who resided here. Theia stopped to pick up a branch that made a handy walking stick, the temptation though was greater to swing it at her side, the drills from saber practice echoing in her head as she moved her wrist and elbow joints to accommodate.

"Did your home have a lot of forest like this?" she asked him.

@Zay

 

[Caul]

”You think?!” he asked a little too enthusiastically, but Theia made a solid point about the colonies. Now he couldn’t help but just believe she was right, why in the heck would anyone choose to live on a planet that smelled like this? She’d moved to the front as they’d hit the treeline. Caul was looking over his shoulder as she pushed some brush away, when she let it go… it flew back and hit him in the face.

“OI!” he yelped, “Gimme a heads up would ya, my allergies are going to hate me later…”

The nefarious jedi scum pressed deeper into the verdant forest. For all the jokes he’d been cracking about the smell, Caul couldn’t deny the beauty in the scenery around them. Theia grabbed a stick and used it to walk with, but every now and then he’d catch a movement or a flick of her wrist that resembled bladework. Unconsciously he started looking for a “weapon” of his own. So, when she asked her question she caught him mid stoop as he leaned to pick up a stick about the length of his arm.

“Yeah, it was a lot different than all this, but Yavin IV was beautiful. Where did you grow up?” he asked with a flourish of his new blade. He thought for a moment on what he’d name a weapon given to him by a tree. Then it hit him! He’d call it Seedgiver… wait… no, nope, no he would not.

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

Theia's eyes widened in surprise when he mentioned Yavin; she had heard so much about it and the history it carried, it was certainly one chapter in the history texts that she paid attention to in her studies. "Really? That's so cool." she grinned, "Hey, you know, starlight has that biome station, we should see if they have Yavin growing yet. Sometimes they change out the ecosystems for new studies." Theia paused remembering how Leon showed her that when she first arrived to the Jedi; her heart sank momentarily as she couldn't recall the last she had seen them. Long missions were not unheard of, but this felt different to her.

Her shoulder bumped into a tree and she was quickly brought back to reality, though uncertain how long she had been ruminating on her thoughts, she quickly filled any settling silence with a response to his question.

"Naboo mostly." she explained, "First we lived on the coasts on Corellia, but Mama's work needed her to spend more time on Naboo with the ISC stuff. Nothing is ever hastily built there, the cities grow like an artist adding to their canvas, lots of plains...grass and then the swamps. I really just liked being anywhere I could swim." Theia felt herself talking too much and grinned. "Not the swamps though, not ideal for swimming...or walking through..."

Theia then paused, hearing something hum in the distance, pushing aside a large petal of the greater cake tree, beyond their forest laid a desert of black sand and rock. From the ground they could see towering white stalks with bulbs moving in synchronized motion as though they were vibrating together. Large blue butterflies fluttered around the tall stalks and in the distance the cries of starklebirds added to the harmony of the towering bith flowers.

@Zay

 

[Caul]

Caul followed along behind Theia brandishing his legendary weapon Seedgiver, okay he really needed to think of a better name… Pollinator? No it wasn’t a flower… Driftwood? No… this wasn’t from the sea… Hmmm…. Oh, well it’ll come to me, he thought.

“Oh yeah? I haven’t spent much time on Starlight, I’ll have to check it out,” he said. Starlight Beacon was the main hub for the Jedi, but the only time Caul had been to the station was after his mission on Ellora when he’d been placed on a debrief curriculum.

“Wow, you’ve got a mom, must be nice.” he’d meant that as a compliment, but he was aware it might have sounded sarcastic. Caul had been dropped on the Jedi as a baby, so he didn’t know his parents. He’d be lying if he tried to say he wasn’t a little jealous of those who got both parents and the Jedi.

“It sounds like you’ve lived in some really cool places,” he said while fighting Darth Bark, Destroyer of Bird Nests.

Caul laughed, “Yeah I’ll agree with you there, swamps suck.”

He only meant that half heartedly, Luke Skywalker had been trained by Yoda on a swamp planet, and honestly, that had seemed pretty awesome, of course he didn’t say any of this out loud, he was trying to play the nonchalant bad boy, not the history nerd. They reached the edge of the wood. Just past the trees lay a barren desert. The name of the place was starting to make sense.

“Whoa! Look at those things?!” Caul exclaimed, “Think they'll explode and shoot thorns or something or do they just like hum?” He didn't wait for an answer, instead Caul started trotting off toward the nearest cluster of stalks.

“Theia, what made you want to be a Jedi?” he wasn’t sure where the question had come from, but it suddenly felt important. He’d never had a choice. He’d just always been a Jedi, if he’d of had a choice he wondered if he’d be in the same place.

In the distance a pillar of dust welled up and began to stretch toward the sky. Caul didn’t notice but at the center of that growing cloud of dust were several speeders heading in their direction.

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

Theia gave him a look when he mentioned having a mom must have been nice for her, it sounded as though he was being sarcastic, as though she should feel bad for having her mom in her life. She didn't bother to linger on it and instead did as just as any teen would do, bury it for another time since he thought she lived in some cool places growing up which saved face and she smiled. Theia moved her stick to over her shoulders, hooking her arms over the long branch, giving herself a gentle stretch as she looked up at the plants.

"No clue, but they kind a stink." she said with a wrinkled nose, getting a little too close to the stalk before giving herself more space between the next cluster of bulbous plants. She glanced at Caul when he asked his next question, catching her off guard as they went from lightness to something that was a bit more closer to the heart. The girl paused in her step for a moment, thinking to herself before starting again. She certainly had her answer that she would recite to the masters during her trainings but as it was, it felt rehearsed, inauthentic, as she would have explained away the facets of the Jedi and how it matched her values.

"I wanted to know about myself." she told Caul. "I was raised in the ISC, and you know they're very anti-Force anything and I had to do a lot of talking myself out of what I knew was true." There was a somberness to her tone, she almost felt shame for still acknowledging she was training as a Jedi, to be Force sensitive, but her mother was one; and so was Ezzie. It was all so confusing to her. "You know, those moments when something weird happens and you're like- did I really just do that? And then, you pretend it never happened."

@Zay

 

[Caul]

At the mention of stench, Caul couldn’t help, but discreetly gave his pits a sniff, whew… wasn’t him. The plants on the other hand really did stink. Relieved, he took up his blade and began sizing up his next opponent. He felt a shift in Theia and worried he might have accidentally asked something that was off the table. So, when she started to talk, he lowered his magical branch and listened.

Caul was a Jedi. He’d been born and then dropped off on the Order’s doorstep as a baby. He didn’t have a ton of experience outside of the temples he’d frequented growing up, but even so, he knew all too well how much people despised the Jedi.

“That’s really cool, and I know how lame I just sounded, but I mean it. The fact that you chose to walk this path… I don’t know, it shows real commitment. I think you should be proud of that choice.”

A far off look crept into Caul’s expression when she mentioned unexpected things happening. The bisected pirate slaver flashed across his mind. He was still struggling with that. He’d been in the right. It was kill or be killed, so why did he feel like shit about it?

“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.”

Caul noticed a hum and frowned, he looked around and spotted the cloud of dust in the distance, it wasn’t far off now.

“Hey, Theia…” Caul said in a voice that sounded hollow, “Is that a mounted turret on the back of that speeder?”

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

Theia gave Caul a small grin when he reassured he was being genuine; she never thought about as necessarily commitment, it was an obligation for herself and she didn't want to let anyone down. She took in a deep breath, feeling as though she had not breathed for several seconds. "What about you-" she paused when Caul pointed out the approaching speeders. The padawan felt herself tense as she saw the mounted turret.

"Maybe they are on patrol..." she said but not with much confidence, that feeling came, one of caution and urgency. Could they make it back to the farm? She never thought she could outrun a speeder, but could herself and Caul handle this?

"They won't be able to get through the forest," she told Caul, "It's too dense-"

However, she would be proven wrong as the speeder with the turret opened fire over their heads. Theia grabbed Caul's sleeve, pulling him to her and into ferns, ducking out of the way from the blaster fire and being run over by some raiders. This wasn't good, the farm was in trouble and soon the two of them as two of the speeders turned around to come back for the padawans.

@Zay

 

[Caul]

Cual was enjoying his time with Theia more than he’d thought he would. He realized in the moment that he’d been keeping people away as a defense mechanism. In his head, he believed himself cursed. Very “All that come near Perrish,” kinda thing. Was it irrational and a little crazy? Sure. Was he a space wizard that could move stuff with his mind? Sure. The galaxy was weird. So, when the speeder with the turret on back opened fire, Caul found he wasn’t surprised as much as he was disappointed.

Theia’s tug on his sleeve caught him totally off guard and he tripped over his own feet, very smooth like, and practically landed on top of her as they took cover in the midst of the stinky stalks. Panic finally found it’s place among Caul’s surging emotions and settled in like a lothcat in it’s bed. Then realizing he was practically on top of Theia, he yelped, like a man, and shifted off of her and onto the ground.

His face was crimson, but imminent death made him look past the awkward moment. The trees were their best bet, but there was about a hundred meters between them and the tree line. What was the move? What should they do? Caul breathing became shallow, he was going into an attack, he had to find an answer, then it clicked.

“Dirt,” he announced with a look of growing excitement, “Dirt!” he pointed, he wasn’t sure Theia was following but she’d get it in a sec. Caul closed his eyes, steadied his breathing and called out to the force, he raised his hand and let the force pour out. A cloud of dust twice the size of the stalks shot up into the air, it was his turn to tug on Theia’s sleeve.

“C’mon, run!”

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

"C'mon!" she shouted after hitting the ground with a solid thud and him on top of her. It took him a moment too long to figure out he needed to get up as she seemed like she was practically pushing him off so she could get to her feet. He was finally getting himself together when he started yelling about dirt. She shook her head wanting to yell at him as like she knew what it was that was on the ground and then pointed to it also. She looked at the ground then to him as though he were a crazy person, but seeing the speeders kicking up the dirt, she suddenly understood what he meant.

The girl inhaled, her deep breath, guiding the Force through her and swiftly along the ground as she quickly extended her palms, The small grains of dust, rock, and black ash brushed up from the ground, getting caught in the natural winds and soon the speeders as they came to a sloppy halt, others slowing down to navigate through the dust cloud better. However, Theia, like Caul, didn't want to wait and see what happened next and took off running with him.

She was relieved they at least knew their path back through the forest and to the farm, she was uncertain how their Knight was going to take this news. They would have to rat themselves out and was the farm used to these guys on speeders? Did they have the defenses? Though what she knew now they had to hurry back, she could hear the engines revving again, making their own path through the trees.

@Zay

 

[Caul]

Caul was hauling ass, this little jaunt had been fun, but a turrent wasn’t the spark he was hoping to find here. Blaster fire ripped just over head as the speeder’s gunner kept taking pop shots. They were still far enough from the trees to be in serious danger, think Caul, THINK!

Caul slid to a stop suddenly, Theia blew past him, he took a step over blocking her back, and ignited his lightsaber, the blaster fire was sailing all around them and the grouping of shots were tigheneing. He breathed, doing his best to calm his breathing, “It’s just like the marksman remote…” he said, closing his eyes, and holding his saber at the ready.

Time slowed, the conjured dust billowed, burnt ozone could be smelled in the air, the superheated plasma exploded from the end of the turret, once, twice, three times. Caul reacted. The first shot was wide, slamming into the ground turning the dust to glass beside Theia’s feet as she ran, the second shot was high, it ripped through the air and he could feel the heat of the bolt tousle his hair as his body whipped around in a circle, swinging his saber like a Naga-ball bat. The blade connected with the third shot and returned it directly to it’s sender. The bolt slammed into the turret's gunner sended up a spray of viscera and sparks.

Caul’s eyes opened, astonishment plain on his face before remembering he should be running. He deactivated his lightsaber as he scrambled up the bank and back into the forest.

dice: 15/20
@GABA