Corellia's Open Terrain

Liam appraised the newcomer, another Mandalorian with the aura of danger emanating from him. Good, another capable warrior, not to be kriffed with. This, Liam could respect, and could work with. These men were obviously not only capable fighters, but possessed of the presence of spirit that gave them purpose. Liam could empathize with this, and this made it easier still for him to adjust to working alongside such august warriors as these.

Liam nodded respectfully in greeting to Faust. He kept his greeting short, regarding Darian's mention of the former's lack of Basic. I am Liam Blood. Welcome.

Liam looked to Darian. I guess i'll be working on my Mando'a. Let's get aboard, Bounty awaits. He turned to lead the Mandalorians up the ramp, which would be raised by the impatient Wookiee in the cockpit just as soon as they were up and inside the shuttle. There was a passenger compartment behind the cockpit with a dozen seats, and the open rear cargo area with a few strapped down crates and hardshell cases. The continued not too subtle Wookiee curses that flowed from Gerlani in the cockpit hinted that the passengers should steer clear. Liam, noting this, grabbed a datapad from one of the cases and found himself a spot at the front of the cargo compartment, behind the seats, leaving the Mandalorians to choose their own spots for the short flight to the ship.

Flight time will be about fifteen minutes, Bounty's a little ways out from Corellia. We don't want CorSec sniffing around too much. Enjoy the ride, we'll be home shortly.

Alright, go get changed then. I think it might be better for us to find a slow flowing river to learn though, the tides will mess you up a bit. * Ralph stood to clean up the mess made from making breakfast. It would only take him a quick moment to get changed, so he would clean and give Terra more time to get ready. Once the portable stove was put away and the dishes cleaned, Ralph slid into his tent to change into his swim trunks, producing himself moments later in trunks and a t-shirt.* Ready when you are, Terra.

When I looked at the map, it showed a river about 45 minutes walk from here. *Ralph smiled as she took hold of his hand. He gave hers a gentle squeeze and began to lead her off towards the river. The young man had an incredible sense of direction, and that became apparent as running water came within ear shot of the couple.* I promise we will go hiking some time soon. I know you were looking forward to it, and I feel kind of bad for deviating from our original plans for the day...

The afternoon was spent with Ralph teaching Terra the basics of swimming. The river was a great place to learn since the current was weak in this part, and of course Terra was a quick learner at most things. The sun had started to sink a little lower in the sky by the time the two had wrapped up the lesson but by then, Terra had gotten a good grasp of the basics of swimming. She walked back to their campsite hand in hand with Ralph.

She smiled."Thanks for teaching me today."

Terra giggled and nodded."Yeah I suppose."She was still grateful to him for teaching her, as it was probably something she would need sometime down the road. Too bad she hadn't learned before her trip to Felucia...

She watched him while he prepared dinner, and she thought about staying up a little later tonight. That was fine by her, as she wanted to enjoy these precious few days with him before getting back to the grind of training. She smiled and nodded, looking forward to the chance to test her newly acquired swimming skills."Well...that sounds romantic..."She blushed a little."But yeah...I don't mind staying up late."

Terra giggled again and sat down to wait for him to finish cooking dinner. In truth she wouldn't mind a little romantic moonlit swim with Ralph. When he brought the food, she dug in eagerly, the day's swimming lessons having given her quite the appetite. As she ate, she thought about where to swim. The river was a fair distance away but if they were staying up late anyway, then that wouldn't be as much of an issue. Or they could just take the speeder no matter where they went. A lake might be better but either way was fine with her.

She shrugged."Um...doesn't matter I guess. We could try to find a lake if you want."

"Thanks."Terra giggled when he complimented her and kissed him back, then stood back a little as he removed his shirt. She watched him for a moment as he waded into the river, admiring how he looked in the moonlight. She was about to follow him when something occurred to her. She still hadn't told him much of anything about herself, and it felt like she was still hiding her past from him. It had been bothering her for a little while now, and despite everything that had happened, it was like she still didn't trust him. That wasn't true, of course, as she really did trust Ralph. She loved him after all, so why shouldn't she trust him?

She suddenly giggled to herself when an idea came to her. It would certainly be a bold move on her part, but if she trusted Ralph enough to tell him about her past, then it wouldn't be a stretch to trust him with what she was about to do.

She giggled again and called out to him."I'll be there in a minute!"There was a tree near the riverbank and Terra quickly darted behind it, still hardly believing what she was about to do. If Morgan knew about this, she would likely be very proud. Smiling at the memories of her time on Felucia with Morgan, she slowly stripped out of her bikini, blushing as she did so. After that was done, she slowly emerged from behind the tree and slipped into the river, blushing as she slowly waded over to where Ralph was. She watched him closely for his reaction.

Bela Vistal
Crystal Valley
(mid-day)

Corellia offered many things to her people including, but not limited to, a temperate climate and a diversity of natural phenomena. One afternoon found Nalatua'lin, Jedi Healer from the Corellian Academy, wandering farther than usual from her typical stomping grounds which unfortunately had been mainly limited to the Academy itself and nearby Coronet City. She had determined to remedy this and one day, she'd even get as far as the fabled underwater caves. She had a hankering for an orange lightsaber crystal. On this particular afternoon, she was using up some well-deserved R&R time while scouting abroad for medicinal herbs and soaking up the sunlight.

For today, she was determined to check off the noted Crystal Fountain within Bela Vistal. It had been taken from the Agrilat Swamp many years ago, and she had seen pictures of its black majesty threaded with rose and emerald veins of colour. The Twi'Lek smiled softly to herself as she threaded her way through the town and arrived in front of her goal. She had stopped a few times to gather some wildflowers which she was in the process of arranging into a rough bouquet.

Some distance away from where Yin She'She was collecting her thoughts under a tree, a satuestque green Twi'Lek female stopped and simply looked with all her eyes at the Crystal Fountain as water splashed down its sides. She was dressed in typical Jedi fashion, though her tunic was a sandy brown instead of Corellian green, and over her trousers, she wore a split skirt that was belted at her waist. In concession to her adopted home she had embroidered the edges of her attire with an intricate pattern of emerald green in a shade that complimented her skin color. Long, shapely lekku draped gently over her shoulders, as she contemplated the constantly-shifting yet always similar movements of the falling water with clear grey eyes. Into the midst of her musings gradually the feeling of someone struggling with internal demons pressed into her consciousness, and she began looking about. The empathic Healer instinct couldn't help itself, even though technically she was on 'vacation.'

A few moments sufficed to bring her over within easy speaking distance of a being curled against the trunk of a stout tree.

With inner joy I realized immediately that she, for she it must be, was one of my own! I do not know what has brought her to Corellia, but here she is, and it seems as if we have been fated to meet. Her sabers are most unusual, but my gaze is drawn to t'chunn---she is scarred, and too recently to be borne with equanimity. I cannot help wondering what has happened, even while hoping that perhaps with some skilled healing---

Nalatua'lin approached closer, and coughed gently. Her own lekku shuddered sympathetically over what had happened to the younger Twi'Lek. As soon as she looked up, Nala addressed her in the hybrid mixture of spoken Ryl and visual lekku language that only Twi'Leks could master, inquiring, "how she felt and how had she been led to this place?"