Pre TL: Lost Knowledge

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Izel stopped immediately as Ines froze and glanced at her, sensing the human's distress. She clicked quietly as she moved back a bit and lowered her head, waiting patiently for her friend to look around the corner and report back what she saw. Kinrath. Izel had read about these creatures, dangerous and occasionally deadly if one were unfortunate to run into one of the venomous breeds. Her antennae twitched and she chittered woefully at the suggestion that they turn back.

"But we're so close!" She argued pitiably as she took out the map and inspected it again before looking up at the halls around her. "If we can just make it down the stairs past them we'll be right at the archives!" She did of course understand Ines' worry though. She certainly had no desire to fight these aggressive tenants, and she didn't have a full grasp of the human's abilities and whether she could fight them off either. Retreat seemed like the best option, but Izel's obsessiveness was getting the better of her. She stood there silently a few moments, antennae twitching furiously as she glared thoughtfully at the floor, then with an idea springing to mind she finally looked up at Ines again.

"Let me try something..." She whispered before moving to the corner. She glanced around and spotted the Kinrath in the distance, taking a deep breath and calming her mind she reached out with the Force. It was a simple trick, but one that should work. Making a motion as though she had thrown something with her free hand she used the Force to make a sound down a separate hallway. Immediately the two Kinrath perked up and clicked angrily before skittering down the hall after the noise and leaving the two an open path to the stairs. Izel turned and looked back to her friend. Vratix couldn't smile, but the pure excitement and triumph radiating off of the insectoid would have been easy to pick up. "Let's go!" She said, struggling to keep a low voice before starting to move down the hall.


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Even a blind and deaf bantha would be able to see that Izel really wanted to get to the archives. Ines looked up at the insectoid's antennae occasionally as they twitched at a rather high rate, wondering if there was a risk that one of them would suddenly jump at her and poke out an eye or something. A wave a shame washed over her as she caught herself in those foul thoughts - her new friend had not shown any signs of being violent or lacking control of her body, yet she suspected her of poking an eye out. Ines shook her head in silence as the other thought of a solution to their problem.

It didn't take long before her friend seemed to have an idea. The Alderaanian didn't quite see what it was that the alien threw, but it certainly seemed to create a noise which drew away the Kinrath. A little confused, the girl thought of what had just happened and couldn't for the life of her remember the large insectoid picking up some small throwable object. Guessing that it was because of the relative darkness that she had missed it, Ines thought nothing more of it.

"Wa- wa- wa- wait" she whispered as the other ran off. The noble was obviously a little too slow, but she was highly concerned of what they would do if there were more creatures inside the archive and the other two returned. Still, not feeling like abandoning her new friend to her fate, the teen reluctantly followed in her footsteps until they arrived at the archives and quickly shut the door behind them. After a while, the tapping footsteps of the two Kinrath could be heard behind them as they were making their way closer to the original position.

They had entered a relatively large room, much larger than the tourch's globe-like light sphere would even get close to covering, leaving plenty of dark corners "I guess we'll have to scan the room with your torch" she whispered, leaning in much closer to the alien's ear that she would have preferred. Her right hand rested on the holdout blaster and was prepared to draw at a moment's notice.


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Izel seemed to almost forget about Ines' presence again as she rushed down the stairs, so eager to see what the archives held in store. The entranceway to the larger chamber sported two old torn banners of the Galactic Empire, still hanging despite their age. Once inside the Vratix marveled at the collection of knowledge, hundreds upon hundreds of records still left mostly untouched by time. It made sense after all, the wildlife would have no interest in raiding this area. "Say what you will about the Empire," The insectoid said absently to her friend as she slowly walked down the aisle inspecting the records. "They knew their bookkeeping..."

Her pace was slow enough that Ines could easily keep up with her, the alien holding the electric torch high so that they had a good range of sight in the darkness. While the Alderaanian wisely kept an eye out for danger Izel fell into a silent focused state, leaning in close to inspect the records on display, her fingers and antennae brushing over them as she moved along the aisle. "Let's see here..." She said as she slowly read off the names of each section of information. "Census data, birth and death certificates, immigration records..." She continued down the aisle, clicking in a way almost reminiscent of a human's humming to pass the time. In this place she seemed totally captivated by the history before her, paying little attention to the world beyond it. She was even ignoring her Force senses, not bothering to stay on alert.

"Ah! Here we are, Jedi records." She opened a drawer and began skimming through the folders, pausing to read one if it caught her eye. "Hmm, most of this seems connected to the Imperial Inquisition's search for Force sensitives in the area. I don't think they yielded many results. Oh!" She took out one folder and opened it, looking over the maps inside. "There are Jedi ruins on this world, they have a marked map here." The alien quickly removed the maps from the folder and placed it with her own gathered information before returning the folder to it's proper place. She looked at Ines cheerily. "Mission accomplished! Now we can-" The disturbance in the Force flared up again, drawing the alien's attention to a door leading to a section of the archives specifically reserved for the old inquisitors. "Leave... Wait... It's there... That's where the disturbance is coming from..." The insectoid slowly started walking towards the door, seemingly hypnotized by the Force energy radiating from the nearby room.


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The chamber was uncomfortably large, at least when combined with the darkness inside, ensuring that there would always be some corner which was too dark to reveal its secrets to the duo. Ines kept her torch held-high and made sure to have her eyes scan wherever her friend pointed the electronic torch. It was eerily quiet as the two made their way further into the archives. While interested in knowledge and such, the Alderaanian often times preferred to have it presented in a somewhat more enticing way than through birth records. She, apparently, had a very different taste from the insectoid who seemed to be very excited by it all.

Whilst Izel browsed through the available information, Ines kept watch over their flanks but soon felt confident that they were indeed the only living beings in the room. Even the noble got excited upon hearing her friend announce that she had found records of the Jedi, although a rather scary flair was added to it as the Inquisitor's search for them was mentioned. The idea of some great beast being hidden inside the room crossed Ines mind - what if it was just sleeping? Ready to pounce upon being disturbed by two nosey teens and loud screams.

Regardless, Ines was glad once they could finally leave. After taking a picture of the map, just to be sure, she turned to head towards the exit when the other suddenly seemed rather captivated by an old door. Looking to it, the Alderaanian immediately felt uneasy. Instinctively, she wanted to turn around and leave it be - if she was ever to enter a scary place such as that, it would be with a mercenary escort. "No" she said, slowly trailing Izel. Seeing as the alien didn't listen, she picked up the pace and spoke again"No way. Stop." she continued, still to no avail. Concluding that more drastic means would be needed, she ran to stand in between the door and the large Insectoid. With both arms spread out and feet planted firmly in the ground. "I've got a really bad feeling about this. Let's just leave. You've got the data anyways" she said, hoping that her words would be heeded.


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Izel slowly lumbered towards the Inquisitor's section of the archives as though in a perfect trance, Ines' voice fading and finally disappearing as the thrum of the Force became louder and louder. It was so powerful, like a raging beast barely contained. The closer she got the stronger the feeling became, it was almost addictive.

The Vratix was snapped out of her trance when she nearly bumped into her fearful friend, taking a step back and looking down at the human with surprise, antennae twitching. "But..." She started in reply to the Alderaanian's protests and looked back at the door. The Force was calling to her now, to her directly. She knew it. "The Force is so strong here... It must have brought us here for a reason..." She looked back at Ines, shifting restlessly on her feet as she wringed her hands around her staff. "I need to know what's in there! It could be important. Whatever it is it's hurting everything around here. Can't you feel it? It's angry and-" She was cut off as another wave of the dark energy hit her. This time not only her antennae but her entire head twitched suddenly and painfully. She looked back at the doors desperately. "It's sorrowful... It despairs..." She looked back at Ines. "I think we're here because we can fix it. Please Ines."

She didn't know what else to say. She wouldn't force herself past the girl before her but she couldn't leave either. The call of the Force was clearer to her now than it ever was before. She knew this was why she had come to Dantooine, the Jedi ruins didn't matter now. All that mattered was whatever was in that room.


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Getting too close to the insectoid was far from what Ines was comfortable with, but at this time, she had to stand tall. With tightly closed eyes closed tight, her head turned to the right as she braced for impact. Instead, Izel stopped at began speaking. The noble now felt that she had been foolish to agree to come along with her new friend in the first place and was not about to be swayed yet another time. Listening to the other speak of the force and whatnot did, to some extent become frustrating. It was beyond Ines' understanding and at this point, it seemed foolish. Neither of them were fighters, at least from what Ines could tell, and they seemed to be getting deeper and deeper into trouble.

Shaking her head, Ines looked intently at the alien until her head twitched all of a sudden. As the red headed girl's face grimaced, she took a step back, pumping into the door. It was a rather grave mistake as the automatic doors lock mechanism quickly started rotating "Oh no" she said with big round eyes staring through the alien fearfully. Quickly, she turned around and pushed her hands against the rotating mechanism, making futile attempts at stopping what was about to happen "No no no no no" she muttered.

Realising that the door would be open within a matter of moments, Ines quickly bolted to the side of the wide frame surrounding the door. The control panel on the wall would soon be subjected to multiple pushes as the Alderaanian tried to make the door close again. When it didn't work, it was subjected to more urgent pushes and even bashes - apparently, it was too old to operate. "I've got a bad feeling about this" she said slowly in a whisper. Hoping that Izel would come to her senses so that they could escape together, she whispered "Let's leave, now." At the same time, her torch was still held steadily whilst her right hand hovered close to her holdout blaster.


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Izel could sense the anger coming off of Ines as she made her plea, becoming more and more dejected as it became clear to her that her words weren't getting through to the Alderaanian. When the girl backed into the door however and accidentally activated it her attention was immediately drawn back to the presence behind it. She held up her staff and shakily held her ground as the rusty doors slowly creaked open. She could feel the fear emanating from Ines and felt a great deal of it herself. She felt sympathy for her friend's desire to leave this place but couldn't bring herself to follow just yet. Instead she stood completely still as her human companion panicked and struggled to stop the doors from opening, her eyes fixated directly ahead of her.

Their fears seemed to be for nothing though. Once the doors were fully opened they simply revealed a passage into another room almost identical in appearance to the one they were in now. Were it not for the dark Force presence Izel was feeling she might not have noticed a difference at all. The chamber from where they stood seemed completely empty, untouched in all the years since this building was last inhabited by sentient life. Izel remained still a moment, her antennae twitching curiously before she tore her attention away, forcing herself to look back at Ines. She noticed the girl's hand over her blaster and chittered uncomfortably.

"I suppose I should explain to you why this is so important to me," she said slowly. "I'm Force sensitive myself. It's why I can feel the darkness in this place. I came to this planet in search of people like me. I thought I had found someone but... I don't know. Everything is all confused now... Believe me I want to leave as badly as you do. But I may never find an opportunity like this again." She looked to the doorway, sensing the pulsing energy within, then turned back to Ines. "We're so close to it. My search may finally be over. I'll turn back and leave if you think we absolutely must..." It stung to say that but she had to admit her journey had gotten her into dangerous spots more than once, and Ines may have a point. "But will you help me?" She focused on the girl intently, waiting for her reply.


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Her mind raced as Izel spoke. Her words loud and clearly audible to her, and anyone nearby. Whilst listening with interest, the noble raised the torch a little higher, leaning it into the room and slowly rounding the corner of the doorway. She stopped in her tracks as the insectoid revealed her force sensitivity. It was insane - there were so few force sensitives and for a random stranger who had almost been butchered by an angry mob to reveal themselves as one was unexpected. The girl kept talking, and Ines listened, gaining more sympathy for her cause. While listening, she continued walking more centrally in relation to the passage and carefully scanned the room ahead of them. While her instincts told her to turn away and leave, she couldn't think of any logical cause to do so. For all she knew, it was more dangerous in the corridor with the Kinrath's than it was in there with Izel and two seemingly empty rooms.

"No" she said softly with a pause, only to reveal that she wasn't referring to the final question "I won't insist on us turning back" she continued, flashing a cheeky smile before adding "It seems relatively safe in here, doesn't it" her voice was more hesitant and nervous, but her words were clear. Now firmly resting her right hand on the blaster, the Alderaanian was prepared to draw at a moments notice. "I don't know what help you're looking for. You're both bigger and stronger than me - but I'll keep an eye out for dangers and if you need an extra pair of hands, maybe I could help you out."

Turning to look into the room, Ines thought for a moment. Logically, anyone inside would've come out by now. A sentient being would probably reveal themselves upon gaining company, not to mention be more noticeable themselves. A non-sentient being would probably have jumped them already. With that, the teen raised her voice "Anyone there?" she asked, without receiving any response from the room. Without turning to look at the insectoid, electing to keep her eyes fixed on the new room, Ines spoke normally "So, what are we looking for?" she asked, prepared to follow her friend into the room.


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Izel's heart nearly broke in two when she heard Ines say no, taking it as a response to her request for help. When the human turned to smile back at her the Vratix was overjoyed, almost skipping forward to join her friend as she entered the Inquisitor's chambers.

"Well, it's always nice to have company when exploring strange and frightening places." She answered Ines simply, her mood soaring even as the dark feeling in the Force pervaded the room around them. Still, she couldn't sense any living beings in the immediate area. She followed the human closely as they explored the room, her antennae twitching inquisitively as she searched for any sign of what might be causing the disturbance.

"I couldn't really tell you..." She answered Ines' question with a sigh. "The Force can be very vague and unclear. It could be a person, an animal, or an object. There's no way to be sure..." She made her way to a semi-circular terminal in the center of the room, leaning over to type at the console while her antennae brushed over it. "Perhaps there's a hint in their records?" She pressed a button by chance and then stepped back in surprise as a hologram suddenly appeared above the terminal. It was a heavily corrupted recording with a barely discernable humanoid image and a garbled almost incomprehensible voice, cutting out between bouts of static.

"ZZZZ - Glory of the Empire - ZZZ - Search has - ZZZ - Onderonian - ZZZ - No choice but to - ZZZ - pleased." Izel stood perfectly still as she watched the holo recording, deep in thought as she tried to piece together the narrative. The Inquisitor continued their patchwork message "Although the Jedi - ZZZ - recovered a - ZZZ - surprisingly strong - ZZZ - captured for study - ZZZ" The hologram cut off as abruptly as it had started, the figure disappearing from view. Izel stood thoughtfully still a few moments longer before her antennae twitched again and she looked at Ines.

"That's it. They found something, something relating to the Jedi." She turned back to the terminal and started typing randomly. "It must be here somewhere..." Just then there was a loud bang and a mechanical creak. Moments later a large circular section of the floor where Izel and Ines were standing by the terminal slowly started to lower, presumably taking them to the building's sublevel. While it was not a hasty descent, if they did not try to move they would soon be lowered into the mysterious depths below. "Oh!" Izel exclaimed with a mixture of fear and excitement. "I think I found something!" She looked to Ines with an oblivious sort of merriment in her expression.


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With a raised eyebrow and a head leaned slightly to the side, Ines listened as her friend spoke of how the force worked, or could work. It was all rather unclear to the noble who had had very few interactions with it all before. The further they got into the room, the worse it felt. While there were numerous things she didn't like, this was certainly one of them. Exploring the room brought the kind of feeling which one would get when doing something seemingly dangerous, like skydiving - but instead of an awarding and thrilling sense of adrenaline filled joy, this task mostly just brought a creeping sense of dread.

Whilst Izel operated the console, the Alderaanian kept watch, carefully scanning their surroundings with an uneasy sense of paranoia. Throwing only a few glances at what Izel doing, Ines was prepared to act against any sudden moves from anyone but herself or her insectoid friend. Suddenly, the recording sparked to life, quickly drawing the attention of the noble.

Puzzled, the girl looked at where the holographic figure had been. "By the stars" she mumbled for herself, clearly surprised by what she had seen. She didn't think much of Izel's continued search on the console - of course she would want to find out more and recordings were a rather safe and harmless way to do so. Still, there was something eerie about the figure which had just been speaking. Suddenly, the ground started moving, it was slow, but clearly noticeable. It seemed as if the section which they stood on around the console was lowering. Not particularly fond of the idea of being reliant on getting the console to work again, the Alderaanian quickly bolted to the side.

Turning around, she watched in surprise as Izel still seemed to be on the slowly lowering platform. Ines didn't even want to think of what dangers could be down there and watched in horror as her friend descended with a careful sense of excitement. The Alderaanian quickly looked around in her own room, hoping to find a piece of rope or something of the like. Spotting only a broom, the girl rushed over to fetch it.

Her alien friend was large, hardly someone Ines expected that she could pull up, still, she had to try. Rushing back to what was now a hole, she extended the broom for Izel to grab hold of. "Come on!" she whispered urgently. "Who knows what dangers could be down there?" The torch was still burning bright, laying calmly by the edge of the hole with the fire sticking out to hover above the hole in the floor. Whilst fully intent on getting her friend out, Ines was also prepared to kick the torch down the hole, knowing that beasts tended to shy away from fire. And she still had her holdout blaster for a worst case scenario.


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Izel was surprised to find Ines already running for safety as the lift began to descend, sighing with disappointment. She remained standing where she was on the center of the platform, inspecting the walls curiously as she was slowly lowered into a hole. The lift clearly hadn't been used in decades and creaked and groaned terribly. But it was still clearly functional. When she suddenly found the end of a broom shoved towards her she looked up at her friend and tilted her head in confusion.

"What are you doing?" She asked with a twitch of her antennae. When Ines insisted on getting off the lift Izel only sighed again before using her powerful legs to leap out of the pit with little effort. She landed besides the human, turning and bending down to tap her on the shoulder. "Honestly Ines, now really isn't the time for cleaning..." She said casually. There was another loud bang as the lift reached the bottom floor, drawing the insectoid's attention again. For several moments there was only silence in the darkness below. Izel clicked happily as she looked back at Ines. "See? There's nothing to-" A low growl cut her off. Turning back to the pit again Izel watched with rising concern as a large creature slowly appeared in the dull torchlight. It was reptavian, orange and white scaly skin and large wings. Looking up towards the two outsiders with four milky green eyes it growled menacingly. As it stretched it's limbs out to try and scale the pit it revealed a severely malnourished and scarred form, it's ribcage clearly visible as well as faded markings from where chains had once held it captive. The dark energy radiating off the creature made Izel visibly recoil.

"I... I think we found the source..." She said warily, watching with fear and uncertainty as the creature clumsily attempted to climb out of the pit, it's muscles straining greatly. "This creature is not native to Dantooine…" The Vratix murmured absently, seemingly content to stand there and watch the scene before them rather than run.


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It was really quite surprising to see the insectoid jump all the way up to safety but nevertheless, Ines was glad to see her friend up there with her instead of descending on the platform. The noble froze for a moment upon hearing her friend state that it was a bad time for cleaning. "Yes, I know, but..." she paused, still somewhat confused by the statement "I was..." pausing once again, the girl blinked hard in confusion until she finally shook her head "You're right, it's not" she stated, realising that they had more important things to focus on than clarifying what she was trying to do. Quietly, she added "Nice jump" moments before the mechanical sounds from the platform hitting the ground below.

Silently, she stood alongside her friend, looking down the hole. With a shrug, Ines was prepare to admit to being wrong when the low growl emerged. The broom was quickly dropped on the ground next to her as the teen reached for her holdout blaster. Whilst the weapon remained in it's holster, the Alderaanian's hand was gripping it tightly.

It was then that the malnourished reptavian appeared. Her mind repeatedly told her to shoot, to rid them both of the beast which seemed set on making it's way up there. Animals, hungry and wild were certainly worthy of respect and this one did produce a rather menacing growl. Instinctively, however, the noble felt pity for the creature. For some reason, she wanted to take care of it rather than kill it. Previously having given way to reason, Ines now sided with her instinct - at least to some extent.

"I.. I guess you are correct" she said, looking down at the beast below. "It doesn't belong down there but I don't know if there's a safe way for us to help it get out" she said, slowly loosening her grip of the blaster. They had no cage, and no good way of keeping something between the creature and themselves if they were to get it up from where it was. At least not from what she could see. Thinking of possible solutions, Ines noticed how the beast was getting higher and higher up with each attempt - if it had enough energy, she guessed that it would be able to make it's way up to them eventually. "Got any fancy force power tricks up your sleeves? All I can produce is a salad, but for that, I'd need to go back to the speeder." she commented whilst digging around in her pockets. "And this, I suppose" she said, holding up an energy bar - hardly enough to do much good to a creature as malnourished as the one in front of them. Still, it would probably be better than nothing.


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Izel didn't immediately respond to Ines, her attention focused on the miserable looking reptavian below. Every time it seemed to make significant progress up the pit walls it would slide back down, some despondent whines mixing in with it's attempts at intimidation. The insectoid's antennae twitched slightly as she continued to keep her eyes on the creature and speak to Ines.

"It's called a... Ruping, I think..." She explained, straining her knowledge of galactic fauna. "The Onderonians ride them into battle. Supposedly they're very loyal creatures. I wonder how one could have found itself here of all places..." She looked at Ines when the girl questioned what they should do, antennae twitching thoughtfully. She looked back at the creature, clearly starving, still trying to get at them with little success. She looked back at Ines.

"I..." The fear was plain in her voice as she hesitated to state her idea. "I may be able to calm it... With the Force. This creature clearly has a strong connection, I can feel it..." She looked back at the Ruping. "I'd have to get close though..." She tightened her grip on her staff, shaking with fear. "It's... It's what a Jedi would do..." Even though she said this she made no move to act on it. Clearly her fear was paralyzing her. While she had made big talk about becoming a Jedi, acting like one was something else altogether. The Vratix never had been particularly skilled in these types of situations.

The Ruping extended a claw, scraping at the wall just a foot or two beneath their feet before slipping and falling back to the bottom of the pit, letting out a pained wail and thrashing on it's back before slumping on it's side. Shaking it's head it looked back up at the two, still growling with malicious intent. Izel looked to Ines, obviously not knowing what to do.


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Absorbing what her friend had to say, the Alderaanian kept her eyes focused on the creature desperately trying to make its way up to them. It was all crazy, insane - getting close to the creature was dangerous to say the least. Still, Ines did want to help it, for reasons beyond her understanding. The more logical side of her was more intent on just leaving, but apparently, her gut feeling to stay kept her engaged in the situation with Izel.

Watching as the beast fell back down, Ines grimaced sympathetically as she felt like the Ruping had to be pained by the fall. While it may not have been that big of a deal to a healthy specimen, this one was weak and fragile. Perhaps it wouldn't actually pose that big of a threat if they went down to it? Unsuccessfully, she tried to wave the thought away - it was very risky. Looking up at her friend intently, fixing her eyes onto those of Izel, Ines spoke "If we go down there together and it is more than we can handle: Will you be capable to jump us both back up here?" Her eyes remained fixed on the Insectoid until an answer were given, scanning her friend's expressions carefully to assess how certain she was.

With that, Ines broke off a third of the energy bar and dropped it down the hole, a first show of goodwill. After a first careful initial look, smell and poke, the beast greedily ate the relatively small piece of food. With that, Ines picked up the broom again - it was the least threatening option, with the other two being her blaster and the sword.

Given a positive response to the previous question, the Alderaanian would look her friend in the eyes, fear and uncertainty obvious for anyone to see. "We could appease it with this" she said, looking at the energy bar. "Then maybe you could calm it down with your force power tricks. Or else, we'll hold it off with these" she continued, looking at the torch, broom and Izel's stick. "Hopefully, it would give us enough time to get away from it"

With that, she was prepared to hop down together with Izel - against all logic and sense.


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"I... Think so..." Izel answered Ines' question in a shaky voice and a nod. The human didn't look particularly heavy, and she was a good jumper, especially when in fear of her life. She watched as Ines tentatively fed the Ruping, gasping at seeing it's ferocity when eating. Izel had felt the sting of hunger before during her time stowed away on ships and wandering the galaxy like a vagabond, but to witness a wild animal's ravenousness was something much more frightening.

She turned back to listen to Ines' plan, nodding along nervously. "Once we get down there throw the food to the side to try and draw it's attention away from us, then I'll see what I can do..." She said as she looked back down the hole, wringing her staff restlessly with her hands. "Oh I really hope this doesn't get me killed..." She murmured under her breath. Below the Ruping had struggled to it's feet and was now pacing back and forth angrily, eyes still fixed on them intently. Izel looked back to Ines and extended her hand. "On three?" She offered uncertainly.


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"You can do it" she said softly. While not fully believing it herself, the two needed some faith for what they were about to do. Ines shook her head as she looked down the hole, seeing the menacing beast down below. Holding both the torch and the broom awkwardly with her right hand, the left one held the energy bar. The creature was unlikely to get a better mood if they waited which meant that there was no sense in waiting for long.

Ines nodded to Izel's suggestion but spoke before starting to count down "Hounds can, sometimes, smell your fear. If this one is anything like them - we'll need to stay calm" her suggestion seemed like an impossibility, but with a deep breath, the noble was determined to try. Doing her best to perish all fear, the teen started counting down with her new friend "One. Two. Three." Without thinking more on the matter, Ines jumped on three, just as they had agreed. Controlling her emotions were far from easy, but slowly, she felt how much of the fear she had previously held was being pushed away in favour of a calm peacefulness. Strange, considering how fast they were falling towards a dangerous beast.

Upon landing, Ines quickly raised the torch and broom, holding the two stick-like items between herself and the creature. It rose to its feet and let out another menacing roar. If listening closely, however, one could hear an inherent tiredness, almost as if its once proud tone rang hollow. The creature then started taking a few steps towards the two girls with a gaping mouth. Breaking the remaining energy bar in half, Ines threw one piece towards the creature. Once the food landed a little behind it, the Ruping quickly walked in a circle so that it could eat the energy bar without turning its back on the two newcomers.

Once again, it roared at them. Remaining relatively calm and collected, far exceeding Ines' expectations of herself, she threw the last part of the energy bar farther away to the side, causing the beast to follow. With that, she took the broom with the left hand, ready to try to shove the creature away with it if it were to attack. But it was really all up to Izel now. Only she could help Ines escape and only she could calm the third presence down there.


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Izel perked up a bit at Ines' encouragement, antennae twitching. After a moment's hesitation she nodded. "Y-Yes." She choked out, gaining some confidence. She took her friend's advice to heart and took in a deep breath, reciting the Jedi code in her head and doing all she could to calm her nerves. It certainly wasn't as easy as meditating in the jungles of Thyferra, but she did manage to steel her nerves somewhat, at least enough that she could stop shaking.

She spoke in sync with Ines, counting down from three and then jumping down into the pit at the same time she did. At once upon landing and drawing the ire of the Ruping Izel held up her staff and skittered backwards until she bumped into the wall, almost losing her nerve. Only seeing Ines' cool-headedness allowed her to maintain her composure. While her friend went about distracting the beast Izel slowly but surely skirted the edge of the chamber, inching closer to the Ruping bit by bit. She froze in place when it turned back to roar at them again, breathing heavily and staying perfectly still. When it turned again to go after more of the food she moved forward with more haste. It was now or never.

She got close enough to the creature to place a hand gently on it's torn and tattered wing. The Ruping's head snapped around and it roared at her, but Izel did not move. She made eye contact with the creature, a determined expression on her face. Her antennae twitched very slightly, her palm pressing into the scaly membrane of the creature. The Ruping growled defensively, it's deadly jaws growing closer. Still Izel held her ground. With a deep breath she summoned the Force and delved into the beast's mind. There was so much wild and unrefined emotion she almost retreated at first. Forming this kind of link with an animal was much different than doing the same with a sentient. She could feel it's anger, fear, sorrow, hunger and misery all at once like an overwhelming tide. She had to struggle to pierce it and reach deeper into the creature's mind.

What Ines could see must have been a strange sight. Both the Vratix and Ruping seemed to have entered a trance-like state, staring deeply into each other's eyes but remaining still as statues, the only movement being their breathing. Inside their heads things were much more tumultuous. Izel searched the creature's memories for something that might cause it to calm down. But there weren't many good memories left. The Empire had tortured it for years, running all sorts of experiments to try and find the source of it's deep connection to the Force. And then afterwards, after the facility had been abandoned, the Ruping had been left all alone to fend for itself, trapped in the lower levels of the building unable to escape. It had preyed on small animals to survive, barely eking out an existence. Going deeper she found something else. The creature's original master. He had been a Jedi, an Onderonian who had tamed and ridden the Ruping in the time of the Republic. But now that master was gone. What happened to him wasn't hard for Izel to imagine. Reaching down she grasped one of the Ruping's memories of it's master and dragged it to the surface of the beast's simple mind. With a gasp she finally cut the link and stepped back, breathing heavily and shaking from the exhausting and chaotic experience. The Ruping had seemed to calm down though, and now lowered it's head submissively, settling down as though it wanted to sleep. It looked between both of the girls now with a simple animal curiosity, as though it had transformed into a giant pet bird.


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She had never seen anything like it before. Ines watched as her friend went forth to touch the beast. If it had the mind to do so, it would probably have been able to take a bite of her arm, which would probably end with the two of them becoming food. The noble's logical side once again called for action, for her to stick the broom into its mouth or blast it with the holdout blaster. But then, the entire ordeal was based on instinct and trust. Trust which she was not about to break at this moment. Instead, she stood in awe as the creature was slowly but surely calmed down.

The room seemed to freeze as Izel and the Ruping connected. Ines had no idea of what her friend was doing, but it seemed to work as it calmed the creature down. Not wanting to disturb the peace, the Alderaanian stood completely still. The only thing moving in the room was the torch's dancing flames, causing the shadows to fluctuate in unison with the fire.

Finally, the complete stillness in the room was broken as Izel took a step back. Ines watched the creature carefully but soon noticed that it had an almost completely changed behaviour. Puzzled, she took a conservative step forth, still holding the torch in one hand and the broom in the other. Considering the new situation, it made her feel rather silly holding the broom as if it were a weapon. Truly, it was not.

"Is it...?" she whispered, almost inaudible for Izel to read her lips. The Alderaanian paused, however, seeing the Ruping turn its head towards her as she uttered the words. But instead of looking at her as if she was its next meal, the beast seemed more gentle with its predatory nature almost completely removed from its gaze. Turning to face it she produced a smile and a warm tone "Hey you" Being replied to with nothing but a heavy breath and what could generously be interpreted as a nod, the noble immediately felt much safer.

"Let us find you a way out of here. We have some food for you in the landspeeder outside" she continued with a friendly tone. Thinking that Izel had tamed the beast with her force powers, the girl turned to the console at her side, the same one which the Insectoid used and which turned the platform into an elevator of sorts. Pressing a few buttons, Ines mumbled "We should be able to make you take us back up again" Upon finally finding what seemed to be the platform command, the noble looked up at Izel "I think we're good to go." she said, prepared to activate the platform when the others joined her.


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Izel didn't respond to Ines at first, still lost in thought over the ordeal she had just been through. eventually she managed to snap out of her stupor and joined Ines by the console. The Ruping lumbered after them like a lost dog, causing Izel to look at the creature with concern.

"I'm not sure what to do with him now..." She said to Ines as the platform began to rise. "I can't imagine he'd last long in the wild..." She looked from the Ruping to her friend. "But he is trained. Perhaps one of the locals will take him in?" She shivered as the adrenaline was still pumping through her body. Her antennae twitching excitedly as she suddenly felt a wave of euphoria over all the day's events. "That was amazing! I mean, we definitely could have died a few times, but what an experience! And we stopped that dark energy, I can already feel things returning to balance here. And we saved an innocent creature." She slumped down a bit as she looked away, becoming more thoughtful. "It's a shame I couldn't find that Force sensitive though. Perhaps they're just too afraid to reveal themselves?" After giving it a few more moments thought she shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well, small victories I suppose. I'll find a master some day I'm sure." She looked back at Ines.

"So what shall we do now? I mean, if you don't mind me tagging along that is... I've already dragged you on one adventure, I think it's only fair I return the favor." The Vratix looked a bit abashed. It was clear she didn't typically have so much success in making new friends. She hoped the human would allow her to follow her in her travels for some time. With the situation on Dantooine resolved, she couldn't feel any particularly strong pull in the Force at the moment. Perhaps that meant she was supposed to stick with the Alderaanian then? It was hard to tell, but Izel wasn't the type to dwell on such things. She would go wherever the wind took her. Although it would be nice to travel with someone who had money instead of stowing away on another ship...


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Watching the Ruping who could now reasonably be considered tamed was astounding. While it had previously been tempted at taking a bite of them, it was now following Izel onto the platform. Soon, all three of them were ascending up to the ground level. Leaning her head to the side, Ines considered what her friend had said. It was certainly a good question she had posed "There was this family a bit to the east of us who ran this large farm. I remember them taking in wounded animals and treated them back to health. The mother was the sweetest of persons. Maybe we could take this one to them. To see if they're a match" Regardless of what Izel thought of the proposal, their first priority would have to be getting out of the building.

Getting out might be a problem in itself, considering the hurdles they had to pass in order to get to the archives in the first place. But then, if this darkness was truly cleared, maybe the hurdles would have migrated elsewhere too. The insectoids excitement soon drew the noble's attention away from their exit strategy. Nodding, the girl could only agree with her friend - they had been surprisingly successful and she had been able to see the most amazing of feats. More importantly, they had done something which must be considered inherently good which always brought joy to Ines' heart. Not knowing much more than the average person about jedi and force users in general Ines shrugged at the mention of not finding one. It was good to see her friend seeing the bright side of things, causing the girl to smile meekly "I hope you do"

Ines was really quite happy that Izel wanted to travel together with her. The Alderaanian had come to trust her new friend, which was made rather apparent by the recent ordeals and enjoyed her company in overall. Smiling, she spoke happily "Of course I wouldn't mind!" The platform arrived at the ground level. While it was still very much the same room, it seemed brighter than before. Slowly walking towards the exit, she continued "My family sent me here to look for more Alderaanians. I have a few more settlements on my list before I take off. I'd love for you to join me. An extra pair of eyes and all that" she said smiling.

Before long, they reached the door leading out to the corridor. Carefully, Ines opened it, peering out through the narrow spring which was created. Opening it more and more, it soon became apparent that the Kinrath had moved on, allowing them to pass without much trouble. Despite its malnourished state, it felt much safer when the Ruping was there with them - perhaps they could keep it with them for the duration of their travels on Dantooine. And who knew what would happen after that?

With that, the new trio headed towards the speeder. Ready to set off to the next destination.

/End Thread


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