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Re: Open Terrain
Still, she managed to press on and not become discouraged; giving up would mean death out here. Wherever here was. She still couldn't shake the thought that there was something familiar about this place, it was just hard to determine what that was. She'd probably just seen holos and images of it before, and just couldn't remember its name. Maybe if and when she found a civilization, she'd find that out.
A glooping sound and a gasp accompanied a misstep as Morgan's right foot sunk into a small puddle of muddy water about a foot deep. She withdrew her leg, shaking her foot off as much as she could with a soft noise of disgust. Now the inside of her shoe felt all squishy. But at least it wasn't a deeper puddle and she hadn't fallen all the way in.
The fauna at this point had been limited to flying creatures and insects... very pesky insects. They mostly just flitted about and only a couple got really close to her so as to cause her disturbance. But one particular group seemed to take special attention to her, swarming about her face and obstructing her vision. She batted around at the air, trying to get them to disperse, to no avail. At this point she had groaned, shut her eyes, and tapped into the Force. She drew energy from it, holding her hands to either side of her. Then she thrust them upward, directly into the group of insects.
She opened her eyes and looked up to see a ball of many black specks hurtling towards the sky, before dispersing many feet in the air. Not wanting to give them time to recover and come after her again, she darted off further into the woods. She obviously must have run far enough, for the bugs didn't return. Maybe next time she'd just use her lightsaber as a makeshift bug-zapper... In fact, why hadn't she tried that in the first place?
Onward she went through the woods, eventually coming out into a clearing. In the middle was a tree, and in its branches was a nest of some kind, drooping towards the ground. It seemed to be made out of mud and vines, and Morgan could clearly see eggs in it. She was suddenly curious to see what kind of bird this nest belonged to. She was also hungry... she hadn't eaten since before the ship took off, and that had been quite a long fight. And she had already been walking around for a while... Yeah, it was time to eat.
Morgan slung the bag from over her shoulders and sat down on the ground against a nearby tree, not the one that had the nest in it. She opened the satchel and plucked a ration bar from inside, then zipped the bag up again and peeled back the wrapper. She took a bite of it, then nearly cringed at the bland taste. But it was all she would be getting until she could get out of here, so she had to deal with it.
So she sat on the ground, leaning against the tree while she slowly nibbled the bar, looking about at the woods and often glancing at the nest. This place was... definitely interesting. It wasn't very pretty, but it had its own sort of beauty about it. Certainly not as beautiful as Felucia, or even Belkadan, but a change of scenery on occasion was nice. It allowed her to appreciate Felucia even more.
There were fewer sounds here. The occasional bird call, chirp, or croak made their way to her ears, but otherwise, the noise level was much reduced here than anywhere else. Much more peaceful here├óÔé¼ÔÇØ A sudden screech made Morgan instantly alert, jumping to her feet, looking about for the sound. There, gliding through the trees, something headed for the next. A... flying rodent? Well, not that those were uncommon, but this one looked... very strange. That was what made that nest here? Morgan was starting to regret waiting around to see it├óÔé¼ÔÇØ
Wait a minute. "Rodents don't lay eggs," she reminded herself. Then her eyes widened; this thing was trying to attack the nest!*
NO!
*She ran forward, her scream causing the creature to look down at her as it landed, stalling its attempt to get into the nest. It peered at her angrily, then hissed. Morgan didn't care; she wasn't about to let this thing disturb this nest.*
You're not getting those eggs!
*It didn't seem impressed at her. In fact, it began to ignore her and started investigating the nest. Morgan glared at it but was instantly moving, sliding the ration bar into a pocket and climbing up the tree with ease. Reaching the branch that the nest was located on, she started to shimmy along it just as the creature was inspecting an egg up close. Seeing her approach, it released it, planting all four appendages on the nest and screeching angrily at her. Morgan didn't look fazed; she was giving the creature a death glare.*
Those eggs don't belong to you!
*The rodent took a step forward and took a swipe in her direction, merely to intimidate rather than actually attack. Morgan only slightly flinched, then decided she had her own intimidation tactic. Sitting up, she removed her lightsaber from her belt, pointed the emitter end above the rodent, and activated it. The green beam flashed to life, causing the rodent to flinch and stare up at it in shock, awe, and fear. It started, then it quickly turned away and glided off, clearly frightened by the weapon. Morgan breathed a sigh of relief, deactivating the beam and clipping it back to her belt.
Suddenly, rustling. Morgan gasped and looked about to see another winged creature land on the branch between her and the nest. Morgan stared at it, wondering if it was another predator. But it wasn't attacking the nest, nor her. It just sat there, peering at her through beady eyes. It was some kind of reptilian bird, with a large beak and a tuft of hair upon its head. It honestly looked kind of silly. But this must have been the mother of the nest. Morgan couldn't really tell, but it seemed to be looking at her gratefully. This caused Morgan to smile.*
Hey, it's no problem! There was no way I'd let that ugly thing get your eggs!
*The reptile-bird then nodded, and even chirped as though it understood what she was saying. Morgan found herself wishing she had something to give it as a treat or something. All she had was the ration bar, but it was worth a shot. She pulled it out of her pocket, peeled back the wrapper, and then held it out towards the reptile-bird as though offering it. The creature peered at it, leaned forward to sniff at it, then carefully extended its beak and plucked a piece off of it. It attempted to chew it, then, after a noise that sounded like a mixture of gagging and squawking, it spat it out towards the ground. Morgan stared at first, then started to giggle.*
It's okay, I don't think they taste that good either.
*The bird-reptile thing looked at her again, then nodded once more. Morgan was amazed at its apparent intelligence, but then she suddenly became aware of something in her mind: This bird had a somewhat stronger presence in the Force compared to most animals. That was rather interesting; was that how it was understanding her? Morgan blinked, then looked around for a moment before returning her gaze to the bird.*
Well, I gotta go find someone so I can get outta here and go home. Good luck with your nest, little guy!
*As Morgan pocketed the ration bar again and started to scoot backwards along the branch so she could climb back down, she suddenly felt something touch her mind, and she heard two words: "Thank you." Morgan stopped with a gasp and stared at the bird. That... was surprising. And a bit touching as well. Morgan smiled at it once more.*
You're welcome! I was happy to help.
*The bird nodded once more, then entered its nest. Morgan watched in amazement for a moment, then continued her motion, swinging her leg over the branch and descending the tree. Once back on the ground, she walked over to her satchel, picked it up, slung it over her shoulders again, then headed off in another direction, pulling the ration bar out of her pocket and finishing it off. At least the bird had shared her opinion on these things...
After finishing it, she crumpled up the wrapper and stuffed it into a side pocket on the satchel. She wasn't quite thirsty yet, so she decided to save the water for now. She turned at the waist as she walked to look in the direction she had come from, where the reptile-bird's nest was. She hoped it stayed safe and that the eggs would hatch fine and grow into adult birds one day. And that rodent thing that tried to attack the nest was really ugly...
On and on Morgan trekked, finding no trace of any sort of nearby civilization. Hopefully that just meant it was a large jungle... Felucia's jungle was very large after all, and civilization was separated by a very large gap of nature. She'd find some civilization somewhere... eventually. It would just... take a long walk. Yeah, that was it. She├óÔé¼ÔÇØ
A presence entered the edge of her range of sense. She stopped, her heart skipping a beat. Was there at last someone out here that she could talk to, someone that could possibly help her towards civilization and get her off of this planet? Oh she hoped so dearly. A smile came to her lips, her eyes twinkling hopefully as she ran towards the origin of the presence, but she slipped and fell forward onto the damp, muddy ground.*
Ugh...
*She quickly pushed herself up to her knees, examining herself. Not too muddy... just a few streaks on her shirt, skirt, arms, and palms. She wiped her palms together, then rubbed her chin on the back of her hand, removing a small bit of mud from it. Seeing that wiping her palms together did little to help her, she reluctantly wiped them on the back of her skirt. Then she set off again, this time hopefully more carefully.
The presence started to come into fuller focus. It wasn't moving. It was... still, as though resting. Someone was asleep out here? Camper, maybe? Well, if that were the case, they'd at least know the land. That gave her more hope as she slowly closed in, but the closer she got, the more she learned. The presence was, for one thing, vaguely familiar somehow. Very vaguely. Like a face she had glimpsed before but couldn't quite name where it was she had seen it. As she approached closer, there was more to it... a darkness, of a sort.
She came to a full stop, staring off into the distance. "Not a Sith," she pleaded gently in her thoughts. "No..." But that was just her initial reaction; as she examined it more closely, the darkness wasn't quite a defining characteristic. It was there, certainly, but it was not all that was there. Now she was uncertain if she should pursue the presence further, but she was all alone out here and it may have been her only choice, much as she didn't like it.
She took a deep breath, exhaled, then set her face in determination, deciding that it was worth the risk. She set off, continuing to follow the presence. Eventually, she found herself near a larger body of water. Something about it was... not pleasant, nor inviting, so she steered clear of it. There was something about that water she didn't like... something within? She didn't even want to investigate to find out.
And soon, Morgan spotted the presence she felt: A girl, a young woman, leaning against a tree, asleep. She was wearing a blindfold... Was that one of those silly things some people did when they went to sleep, or... She knew of at least one other being who wore a blindfold, and that was Atuna. He was a Miraluka, a species that didn't have eyes and instead saw through Force sight. Maybe this girl was a Miraluka? Hopefully that was the case...
Morgan's steps were starting to slow, for the closer she got, the more she could feel the strands of darkness coiling outwards from the girl's presence. It was making her uncomfortable; she even shivered once or twice. But this was Morgan's only shot at escaping├óÔé¼ÔÇØ Was that blood on her leg? On her face? Morgan's eyes widened. What happened to her? Was she attacked? She was alive... and her presence didn't seem weak at all. Either way, in case the injury might be serious├óÔé¼ÔÇØshe recalled that open wounds could become infected on Felucia, so maybe the same was true here├óÔé¼ÔÇØshe would have to act quickly, treat it with her medpac and hope she was grateful enough to help her find a way home.*
Miss!
*She wasn't sure how to address the woman, so the generic title would have to do. She ran towards her, then, once she was close enough, fell to her knees beside her.*
Miss! Wake up!
*Morgan started to reach forward, as though to attempt to rouse her by shaking her, but then stopped. There... was some strange source of darkness upon this girl. Not within her, as she had originally believed. It wafted from somewhere upon her person, enough to make her shiver and instinctively scoot backwards a bit. That... was a very strange sensation. And she wasn't sure she liked it.
And now that she was up close, she could see the injuries in much greater detail; several bloody holes along her leg, dried blood on her face, and Morgan thought she could see a bruise forming just under the neckline of her shirt. Just what had she been through... ? Looking at the woman's face, Morgan attempted to verbally arouse her again, only this time, her voice was much softer, and far more concerned.*
Miss... ? Are you okay?
*She wasn't sure she would even have heard that if her other words hadn't made her stir yet. Morgan was starting to feel even more uncomfortable, but... not with her, strangely. It was the source of the darkness that Morgan felt chills from. It... didn't exactly frighten her, but it was certainly unpleasant. She was starting to have second thoughts about this, but no; this girl was her only chance so far at finding a safe way home. Morgan just would have to deal with it, and if something bad resulted from this, she would have felt a warning from the Force by now. And she felt none.*