Ask Ajan Kloss Through The Motions

[Kalen Novak]

The cavern finally opened up and Kalen let himself let go of the breath he had been holding. He clicked on a light which caused the clear water to shimmer as it slowly rolled through the mountain. Shadows danced above through impressive rock formations. The cavern was quite large, large enough that his claustrophobia started to die down.

They drifted towards a rocky shore on one edge of the cavern and Larana jumped out to pull them into it before they passed by it. He continued to look up, enjoying the scenery more than he would likely admit to her. "We haven't died yet" he corrected, holding up a finger but the anger and fear had faded from his words, replaced by a hint of humor.

He scratched at the back of his head. "Yeah, its pretty great," he said truthfully. "Hard to believe its been this close to the temple all these years," he responded as he jumped out of the boat. Kalen sat down on the rock, pulling his knees up to his chest. He felt so distant from everything else in the Galaxy at that moment. The place hummed deeply with the Force, it was subtle but definitely noticeable.

"So what's on the agenda?" he asked, glancing towards Larana.

 

[Larana Basai]

Her attention shifted back to Kalen who sat beside her, his knees at his chest. He had seemed so distant over the course of the last couple of days, but it wasn't her place to ask questions. It was probably best, in that respect, that she take it easier on him and allow him the opportunity to enjoy this particular adventure; she was always pushing them too far, but she didn't want to push him farther away. His comments from earlier still lurked in the back of her mind, worried that there could have been some truth behind them, however ridiculous it may have seemed.

"Why does there always need to be an agenda, Kalen?" Larana spoke without looking over at him, her eyes transfixed by the light that danced upon the cavern walls, reflected by the ripples in the water. "I thought we could both use a break. I know you don't always enjoy it when I convince you to leave the temple, but I thought that perhaps you might enjoy this one. You know, without all the danger and adrenaline that you're used to." A smile pulled at her lips and she pulled her knees into her chest as well. "You know, besides the short river excursion."

 

[Kalen Novak]

He shrugged even though she wasn't looking over. He always tried to stay busy, running away from the fear that if he let up for even a moment he would fall too far behind. That constant anxiousness ate him up inside.

Larana, whether she was perceptive or not, had always been able to tell when he was at a breaking point. He would have never made it this far without her frequent "adventures". It was likely the reason they had never gotten into any serious trouble when taking off.

He chuckled a bit at her joke before pausing for a few seconds. "Thanks." he finally said giving her a weak smile. "This is pretty great." he continued with a nod before reaching down to take off his boots.

"I have never swum in an underground lake before," he said as he shrugged off an outer shirt. This was a bit small to be considered a lake but the cavern was pretty large so it would do.

"You coming?" he asked, looking down at her as he stood. He then leaped into the air and landed in the water several feet out. The cold was almost knocked the breath right out of his lungs as he came up with a gasp. It was freezing but it was also some of the cleanest feeling water he had even been in.

 

[Larana Basai]

The cavern was much cooler than it had been in the forests, likely due to the fact that it was shaded from the harsh sun and the water flowed continuously through the river bed. Larana could have sat there for hours, but sooner or later their Master would notice their absence and she didn't have the motivation to spend the rest of the afternoon climbing mountains as punishment. It was clear that Kalen would have been content to avoid it as well, but there wasn't any reason that they couldn't have a bit of fun before they'd need to hike back to the temple. It would still be a few hours before Master Ris returned from whatever obligations had pulled her away from their training sessions and Larana wasn't in too much of a hurry to traverse up river to beat her back to the temple.

It didn't take much for Kalen to convince her to strip her outer layers and join him in the water, however she wasn't quite as bold to jump in and tested the water first with her feet. It was cold, but felt nice in comparison to the other overheated lakes they had swam in on other adventures she'd lured him into. It was also much cleaner than any other as there was no dirt or sediment at the bottom, only rock which was could be seen through the crystal clear waters.

"Do you think Master Ris would notice if we just stayed here?" She looked over at him and slowly sank deeper into the water, wetting her hair.

 

[Kalen Novak]

Larana took the far worse approach and slowly waded into the cold water. He pushed the hair out of his eyes. "She likely has already sensed we are slacking off." he said, only half joking. Perhaps they were predictable but there was a constant joke of their Master having near supernatural abilities to know when they were doing something other than what they had been assigned to do.

He treaded water for a moment before something caught his eye below him. It was a light of some kind at the bottom off the pool. It was hard to tell exactly what it was, only that it contained a faint glow.

Taking in a deep breath he swam down to try and fetch the item. The clear pool was deceptively deep, and without a rebreather, it was difficult to swim down but he managed to, picking up the small rock. It glowed in his palm as he pushed up from the bottom and swam back towards the surface. His lungs were burning by the time he made all the way back up and he gasped as he took in several deep breaths.

Recovering, he held the small rock above the surface of the water. The rock was covered in red and blue streaks that ran across it which glowed slightly. He had seen kyber crystals glow before but this was not that. "Huh." he said as he continued to look at the strangely beautiful rock.

 

[Larana Basai]

She tread the salted water, feeling weightless save for her clothes which clung to her frame. Her attention drawn to the faint light that broke through the deep waters as Kalen swam down to retrieve whatever it was. It took him a while to reach the bottom, his figure becoming smaller the farther he swam down, proving the small oasis was much deeper than it looked. It was like a small ocean, devoid of life, nestled beneath the ground undisturbed until now. Ajan Kloss was truly a world with much to discover, and she was beginning to realize that, even if she lived to be one hundred, she still wouldn't see it all.

It took Kalen a while to break the surface of the water, and the silence was almost deafening. Larana watched him, waiting patiently for him to surface with the small crystal displayed in his open palm. For a moment, she thought that it might have been a kyber crystal, but they didn't glow in the way that this one did, at least from what she remembered. It was streaked in red and blue, and was oddly alluring.

"What is it, Kalen?" She finally asked, knowing that when it came to knowledge he trumped her. He was truly the brains and she was content to be the brawn, though they both still had a long way to go before either of them was ready to traverse the galaxy without the guidance of their master, who was sure to be worried about where they had run off to.

 

[Kalen Novak]

He studied it but didn't have a clue what it was. He would have to look it up in the archives later, a task he was more excited about than he would ever admit to Larana. She never seemed to understand his love of studying.

"I don't know. It looks really cool though." he said. "Here, you take it." he said offering the stone to her. He let himself shift to floating on back, head held out of the water. He stared up at the cave ceiling, noticing some creature as it crawled along the ceiling.

"So we going further or going back?" he asked. It was always a balancing act of staying out and getting back in time to avoid getting in trouble. It was a balancing act that they nearly always got wrong. Either way, he was starting to mind less and less. He liked it down here. The world felt...smaller down here somehow. He wasn't sure why that was really comforting.

He started to swim back towards the rocky shore and pulled himself out of the water. Kalen shivered slightly, not thinking about the consequences from jumping into cold water with most of hisclothes still on. They now clung to his skin, spreading a chill throughout his entire body.

 

[Larana Basai]

It was impossible to time their adventures just right. It seemed that, no matter how hard they tried to avoid trouble, Master Ris was one step ahead of them. In fact, Larana was sure she'd already noticed their absence and was meticulously planning their punishment. In which case, it likely didn't matter if they returned now or later, their punishment would be the same. The last time they'd run off, the both of them had been forced to climb some of the steepest hillsides on Ajan Kloss in the unforgiving heat; her thighs burned for weeks.

She admired the stone in her hands, silent as she considered whether or not they should return now or press further into the caves. "I think you should pick this time, Kalen." Larana looked up at him as he climbed out of the water and pocketed her souvenir. He seemed to enjoy this particular adventure, but she was curious to see if he'd choose to run back to the temple or risk further punishment to explore the caves. It was always her choice and, for once, she was rather tired of being the leader.

"We can head back if you want," she swam back towards the edge of the small lake, "or, we can go deeper. I'm not bothered either way."

 

[Kalen Novak]

He shifted somewhat uncomfortably. It was easier to just go along with these things when he was being dragged along by Larana. "Well..." he said trailing off as he weighed the options.

They were likely already going to be in trouble if they went back now, but if they were even later the punishment could be even more severe. Who knew when the next time would be when they could break away. He looked towards their makeshift boat and cave exit and then looked further down the cave as it descended deeper into the mountain.

He thought it over for a few more seconds. "I...I guess a little further wouldn't hurt anything." he said with a shrug that he hoped conveyed a sense of confidence he didn't have.

Kalen started down the cave, picking up his things along the way. He grabbed one of the lights and held it out in front of him as he walked further into the cave. It started to noticeably slope downwards as they went. "How far do you think it goes?" he asked. Just as he spoke something flew out from the ceiling causing him to duck frantically before realizing it had just been a bat. Maybe this had been a mistake.

 

[Larana Basai]

His response was genuinely surprising; Kalen wasn't usually a risk taker, but had recently seemed to become more willing to step outside of his comfort zone. This side of him was completely unfamiliar and there was a part of her that worried she may have been more of a negative influence than she had intended to be. However, Larana always believed that life began at the end of your comfort zone and lacked the patience to stay in one place too long. It wouldn't have been like her to disagree with him, even though she was almost certain Master Ris had noticed their absence by now.

Larana pulled herself out of the water, her tunic clinging to her body uncomfortably. "It could go on forever, really." She noted, picking up the remainder of her belongings so that she could catch up to him. "Of course, there's only one way to find out." She nudged him deeper into the cave, offering a playful smile.

It was dark and the light he held offered just enough visibility for them to navigate the path that led inside. The ceiling was low and a bat flew out of one of the crevices, causing Kalen to duck as it passed by them. Larana imagined many creatures probably called these caves home and made a mental note to be cautious of where they would tread, wanting to avoid any unnecessary confrontation, even if it had only been a bat.