Prelude: New Digs - Chapter I

The pair of Jedi had retired to their camp after a day spent traveling through a harsh desert climate and carefully exchanging words - fortunately, only words - with the area's denizens. Akea Oahu and Lilandra Asgarde had spent their first day on Teloc Ol-sen speaking to important members of local hunter community. Although Lilandra, by her own admission, was not always enticed by Akea's community-building endeavors, she was impressed by the tact and understanding with which her master had addressed the fearsome Teloc Hunters in their village. They hadn't made much progress in recovering the Jedi signet ring they'd come to retrieve, but they did manage to obtain permission from the local tribe to explore the ancient caves where they believed the ring to be lost.

For all of the complaining she'd done about the day's earlier heat, Lilandra missed it now. The dry, unshaded climate cooled drastically during the nighttime hours, leaving the sweltering daytime temperatures a distant, fond memory. The two had built a fire and sat close to it, absorbing what heat they could. The cold-blooded Dur Sabon Jedi Knight had coiled himself around the fire, heating nearly the entire length of his body. In lieu of a log or stump, of which there were none in this stretch of desert, Lilandra simply sat in the sand, leaning back into a section of Akea's coiled body trunk. Akea found the arrangement a tad awkward at first, but conceded it was better than the alternatives. Lilandra had joked that Akea was really getting the better deal of the two of them, able to leech heat off of the warm-blooded member of the duo.

They'd stared silently into the flames for some time, exhausted by their first day in the desert and contemplating their own mysteries. A nagging question prompted Lilandra to break the silence.

"Master, would we still go into these caves had we not obtained permission from the hunters?"

Akea thought for a moment before replying to the padawan - he had to admit, she had a knack for good questions.

"Alas, Lilandra, I'm afraid not. We would have found our trip somewhat abbreviated... "

After a moment of silence, Akea let a bit of his underlying humor slip through.

"... Try to contain your disappointment."

For as serious as his demeanor often was, Lilandra had grown to appreciate the subtle sarcasm her master often displayed - she wasn't sure what it stemmed from, but few Jedi displayed it, and she counted herself lucky to be paired with one who did; it certainly helped, even if only a bit, to alleviate the tremendous rigors of Jedi training. She smirked, although did not say anything as she thought about his reply. Considering their past actions, she was left somewhat puzzled by his response, questioning their precedent.

"But, Master, we went into the temple on Ossues despite having been firmly told we weren't allowed to by the Ysanna tribe taking care of it."

Akea nodded, replying to her after a moment of thought.

"That was different. They knew of the artifact within and understood its significance."

Lilandra, further puzzled, now leaned forward and twisted her body to face the Dur Sabon, who met her gaze.

"So because the Teloc hunters don't know what they've got sitting just beneath their noses, we couldn't go and get it if they said no?"

Akea, knowing she'd have further questions, nodded in brief.

"Correct, my padawan."

Lilandra tilted her head slightly, furrowing her brow.

"I'm afraid I don't understand, Master..."