bridgescribble | Stranded... out there

Entry tags:

[adventure],
[meme]

Stranded... out there

Disaster. Your plane crashed, your boat holed, your guide has left you stranded in the depths of the wilderness. Certainly, your surroundings are beautiful in their way, but we all know that nature is long on majesty and short on mercy. And unlike those guys on the Discovery Channel, there isn't a Motel 6 around you can pop into.

Desert. Whether it's cacti and hardpan, or dunes and sidewinders, you'd better find an oasis fast. And take care... it gets cold at night.
Jungle. Ah, the rainforest, that thriving hotspot of biodiversity! ...and just as many toxic compounds as there are species.
Tundra. Doesn't matter if it's Farenheit or Celsius, the thermometer is too many digits in the negative. But hey, at least there might be penguins.
Mountains. You might be hungry and windburnt, but the view is unmatched. Watch that first step, it's a doozy!
Savanna. Lions and termites and baobab, oh my... Never mind looking for food, you might be food if you aren't careful. And stay out of trenches with too many wildebeest.
Deep forest. The woods are quiet, dark, and deep. Do you know how to tell edible puffballs from Destroying Angel? Better learn quick.
Deep space. Maybe the ship has lost its engines and is drifting towards nowhere fast, or maybe it's a space station long abandoned, but you know what they say--no one can hear you scream.
Island. Let's face it, it would be nice, if it had been your idea to be here. Where did the Swiss Family Robinson find all that stuff, anyway?
Motel. Never mind, there is a Motel 6. No, wait--Motel 5? Oh boy. You really wish they hadn't left the light on, because nothing it reveals is something you want to see.

Problems:

Weather: It's turning for the worse and you need a place to hide.
Hostile wildlife: Whether it's looking for lunch or wants you off its patch, this is going to be a problem.
No luggage ...or anything else, including food, water, or shelter.
Hurt: Perfect time to practice making splints out of sticks!
Other! Listen, it's a big world, it has lots of ways to make you miserable.

adapted from the Lost in the wilderness meme @

memebells

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She looks down from the tree the pair of them have taken refuge in. This will work well, until something comes along that can either fly or climb. She's crouched, leaning against the trunk of the blue and yellow tree. The purple leaves rustle in the weak wind around them.

Below them is sitting some sort of giant cat thing. That animal had chased them up the tree, but had lost interest and looks to be just lounging to take a nap. Nothing they have done so far has distracted the beast from it's nap.

She looks across at her Master, who is minus an arm right now, and luckily not lost his saber. She knows he's angry about the arm, and it might have possibly been partially her fault, but she's sorry about this.

"If we don't make the rendezvous, Rex'll come get us, right?" She asks, leaning around the trunk to look at Anakin. Because she doesn't want to miss another rendezvous and have a frustrated and upset Padme to deal with, once they get back to Coruscant. Besides, Misa knows something Anakin doesn't - Padme had sworn her to secrecy - and she wants him to find out, not end up dinner for... whatever that is below them.

Well, in theory Rex can come get them. He's up in orbit; it'd been Anakin's brilliant idea for the pair of them to come down here without back-up. She'd lost her communicator an hour ago, and his had been lost at the same time as his arm.

She settles on her heels, looking down. The animal is settling in to sleep, but everytime the tree creaks, it looks up.

"Yes, he will." Anakin has some sticky purple-blue sap in his hair and down his neck. He was irritated by that. He was pissed about his arm, even if it wasn't completely Misa's fault. He'd get over that, and he had a replacement on the ship. They just had to get to their pick-up point.

"We need to ditch our tail first." He could kill the animal, and he will if there isn't any other option. But it isn't his first option and he knows it.

Misa has the sap leaking down the arm of her cloak. She's not even registering that, because right now, she's more worried about relieving themselves of the large feline that is stalking them.

Sighing, she looks around, her brow furrowing slightly. She stretches her senses slightly. Oh. She looks down at their stalker. Misa bites her lip. She could do something, but she doesn't want to.

The feline below them is a female, and she has little ones not far from here. Misa's good enough to make the babies distract the mother, but she's not sure that's a good idea. She twists, then climbs a bit higher. Popping out of the canopy of the tree, she looks further into the distance.

"There's some sort of herd animal to the east of us." West, Misa, not east. She still gets her cardinal directions messed up sometimes. "If we could draw them over, maybe our friend will hunt something a bit more to its palate?"

She looks down at her Master. She knows how frustrated he is. She doesn't even need the Force for that. It's in the way he carries his shoulders.

Anakin knows about the cubs - they are an option he doesn't like either. But nudging the herd closer - that, that is a good option.

It's not just his shoulders, it's his face. His jaw, his eyes, his mouth. His face is very expressive and it's a struggle for it not to be. Here, with only Misa, he doesn't even bother.

"Yes, that's a good idea. We can even help the hunt a bit." Slow or injure something to make sure the cat is busy.

She looks over at the herd again. She's not sure how to do this. Her levitation is horrible. Her saber work is fine - with Anakin teaching her, it has to be. The place where she really shines is her healing. She can do that without actually thinking about it - something that bothers her healing teachers.

But, this isn't the time to think about her shortfalls. She needs to move the herd. She watches them milling around. What's going on? Something has made it move. It's headed toward them, but not fast enough.

Below them, the feline hasn't moved, save to flick an ear. So, time to work. She concentrates, thinking about the herd. She finds the lead animal, who is alert and ready to move. Creating the impression of Fear on the opposite side of them to herd them toward the problem below Misa is a lot harder than some people - Anakin - think.

Anakin is aware it's difficult. His focus is likewise on the herd. He concentrates, rustling plants on the far side of the herd, tosses some rocks like a prowling animal. Urgency and fear are difficult to create but in herd animals, fear and possible predation equals move.

And between Anakin's actions and his own mental suggestions and Misa's...

well. Movement is happening.

She opens her eyes as the lead animal trumpets. That makes the herd move. The lead animal starts herding them toward their perches. Misa watches, looking down below as the feline finally notices. A questioning rumble accompanies her rolling to her feet. The herd definitely has her attention.

She licks her lips, watching. The herd realizes where they're headed and the herd turns, but not before the feline below Misa and Anakin jumps out and manages to catch one of the slower turning herd. She growls, shaking the animal in her jaws, and then trots off toward where the cubs are waiting.

Misa lets out a deep breath she'd been holding as the rest of the herd runs away. Well, that's one problem. Easily, Misa starts climbing down. She knows better than to ask Anakin if he needs help. "Well, that worked." She tries to dust her hands off, but they're stained purple from the sap and she sighs. Another adventure to tell Rex, no doubt.

She needs to corner Kix too. Since, Anakin will be cranky about his arm.

Anakin had been ready to break an ankle of an animal to ensure the female's hunt was successful. Once Misa was down - something that irked Anakin a bit - he started to climb down. "It is. Next time we're pinned somewhere, let me get down or out first, unless I tell you otherwise."

It was about safety, even if he knew some people would accuse him of glory hunting.

"Come on, fall in, we have a lot of ground to cover." Due to having to take a less-than-direct route due to their stalker.

She looks at him, wanting to protest. He's only got one arm and while he's still deadly, she doesn't want him getting anymore injured than he already is.

However, in their two years together, she's come to know that look. "Yes, Anakin." If there were others around, she'd call him Master. But the word still has connotations for her that she's uncomfortable using it, except when she has to. With it just being them, she can use his name.

She falls in with him, silent, even in her footsteps. It's something she hadn't had to be taught. Despite growing up in a brothel, she'd known how to walk quietly and disappear in plain sight. She's done it more often than she needs to, but it does come in handy.

Misa still isn't sure why she'd been brought on a mission to look around this particular planet. Anakin had been remarkably closed-mouthed about that. She wants to ask, but knows better. He's cranky, so questions will have to wait.

He's only got one arm, but he still has the Force and he's a frightening powerhouse there. Not where he will be in a few years, but still enough of a powerhouse that most things that could sense the Force knew better.

He didn't need to hear her footsteps to know she was there, and his footfalls are similarly silent. His presence isn't, but then, when is it? He focused his energy, allowing his mood to permeate the Force around him so that there's something Dark to him.

Even animals that couldn't sense the Force tended to read that as 'Predator' and it's borne out as around them, the sounds of prey fall silent until they have passed. It's not something he likes to do, because of the risk of something happening, of being come upon by others of the Jedi Order, but right now, he doesn't care and he knows there are none on the planet. Their path is leading them downhill, but they are headed down in two ways, and it does make things both faster and slower - Anakin needs to make sure his feet are in a stable spot. "Put your feet in my footsteps Misa." Despite his mood, his voice is soft as well as quiet.

It will lead them down to water, he knows. It's most likely the normally clear water will be stained a pink-purple from the hulls of the seeds of the native trees this time of year. It's not toxic, but it can be irritating to the mucus membranes from the tannins, and he doesn't want her to end up tumbling into the water.

She stops, letting him step ahead of her, and falls in behind him, not questioning. That's the thing about Misa - she doesn't question orders a lot. Oh, there are times she will look at him in a way that says she doesn't understand, but it takes quite a bit for her to voice a question to him. All indoctrination from the brothel he'd found her in just two short cycles ago.

She can't keep up with his strides, but noticing him testing his footing, she begins to do the same, just in case. It proves to be fortuitous, because the place he'd stepped had loosened and goes out from under her, sitting her on her rear rather hard. However, she doesn't go sliding down the hill with the bit of dirt and clay that had loosened. She pushes herself up and sighs. It's going to be a night of cleaning everything - his as well as hers. It's her duty as his padawan, after all.

She continues following behind him, reaching out to steady him when he slides a bit.

It does take Anakin more time than it should to realize he needs to shorten his steps a lot more, and it sadly happens after Misa falls. Anakin heard, probed her a bit with the Force to make sure she's all right.

Misa will come to understand, if she hasn't already, that he has varying definitions of 'all right' depending on if it's him, Padmé, Kenobi, her, one of his men, other Jedi, civilians, so on - however he always sees bruises and dirt as 'all right'.

Feeling her reach out to steady him, once he's balanced, he reaches back to squeeze her hand. It is a long way down to the water because of the route they are going, but he can see a beaten-down path not far from them. In fact, it's large enough at the area they are to sit and stretch a little, not that Anakin does or would allow Misa to. There's a path going up which is incredibly steep - they'd need climbing gear and spikes - but down is less steep, even if it's a long hatchback path.

That being said, it's not tall between each length of path that a Jedi can't easily force leap over the edge of the path to path, treating it large stairs.

Anakin bunches his muscles in preparation and then leaps down. And turns to wait for Misa.

Misa watches him move, gently keeping an eye on his injuries to make sure he's not pushing so hard as to do irreparable harm. She can't stop him from pushing, but, hopefully, she can prevent too much damage.

There's another thing about Misa. She hates heights. Where he's in the cockpit, enjoying the sights of stars and planets spread out around them, she's in her room, listening to music and attempting to not see what's going on. Her first night on a ship that wasn't earthbound had been... bad. She'd been up most of the night crying and hiding under her bed, where it was safe.

She's gotten better in the last two cycles, having to be with Anakin and Padme on various trips, but she still is far more comfortable with her feet on the ground, than she is in the air.

Misa maintains she was earthbound for a reason, and she likes it.

Still, she swallows down the fear and jumps down after Anakin, stumbling a bit on landing and having to grab him to keep from falling. No, she'd rather climb down, thanks.

Anakin knows she's afraid of heights, or falling, or some combination of not being solidly on the ground. Not without reasons - some being speed - he's choosing to take this tactic instead. Because she also needs to learn to manage her fear in a way that it doesn't in the way in the moment.

As she grabbed him, Anakin reached over to steady her, and once she was, gave her a little squeeze of a hug. "That was good. Try to relax a little more, keeping your legs and back relaxed a little so you can sink, not bounce. That will help you land better."

He might be in a foul mood, some of it might be her fault, but he wasn't going to skip over actually trying to teach her.

It's just that things hurt when you fall and Misa is fond of things not hurting.

She takes a deep breath, holding onto him a bit longer than she needed to. The switchback trail is the fastest way down, and she understands the necessity for speed, but ugh, she would like to not jump down the mountain.

Still, she knows that if she expresses that, he'll make her jump through Coruscant. She knows that. So she swallows her irritation at having to do this, and nods in response to his instruction. For all that he's a tough teacher, he's also a kind one. She'd been very lucky to be found by him.

He's aware that the leaps can hurt, but he also knows it's possible to use the Force in such a way that it doesn't. He also knows she dislikes pain - and that too is manageable in the Force. She needs to learn.

That is part of the point of this excursion.

"Remember, the Force will help you. Reach for it."

She gives him a look, but keeps her mouth shut. Really, what does she gain for mouthing off to him? Nothing, save more rigorous training. So, instead, she follows him down the switchback trail.

Her leaps become more confident the more she does them. Oh, that doesn't mean that she liked it - in fact, she didn't - but she managed. Everything was going fine, until the last jump.

She landed easily, comfortably on her toes, slowly straightening from the crouch. She tries to brush off the dirt from her hands. It just smears on her robes. Sighing, she turns to ask how far to their rendevous point, when something warns her. "Look out!"

Misa grabs Anakin and flings herself backwards, dragging him along with her. She lands hard, the breath leaving her in a rush as he lands on top of her, but at least, they're both alive. The trail where they'd been standing had collapsed, falling into the river below them. "Alright, I know you love adventures, but this is getting ridiculous." Now, the dirt and sap is in her hair and that? That is unacceptable.

If she mouths off...well his reaction varies. There's a time for it, after all. And sometimes he'll just give her a look and ignore her. Sometimes there's a lecture. Once, and only once, had he reached over and lightly tapped his first and second fingers against her mouth. It was slightly firmer than his mother had done when he was a child, but much more gentle (physically and emotionally) than when his own Master bopped him in the mouth.

But there was also the point of this lesson, even if they had gotten off course and needed to find their way back. And he wasn't going to ignore lessons that needed to be learned for the sake of making it back quickly. Besides, she learned quickly and he was proud of the efforts she was making.

He sensed something wrong as he was landing, and he had been ready to bound off when Misa grabbed him. Sighing, Anakin pulled himself up and looked over her first. His right arm was throbbing as if it was broken in a few places and he glared at the empty air. "It's not that bad."

She's fine. There's a bruise on her back that a bit of concentration will get rid of. She'll have sore muscles, and wants to soak in a hot bath for a week, but she's fine. She looks up at him, making sure he's actually okay, before she pushes herself up on her elbows.

"I need a bath for a week." She's not really complaining. She knows better than to do that. However, she's not above mock-whining (as long as it's just Anakin around) to get him to smile, just a little. "Not that bad?" She raises her eyebrows at him. "I hesitate what to ask 'bad' actually is."

Misa had taken that one bop in the mouth hard and had not spoken for two days after it, despite knowing that's not what he wanted. She's still finding her feet, so to speak, with mouthing off. Has he grabbed her and shaken her by the shoulder? Yes, absolutely. Did he do it often? He didn't have to. Most of the time a finger flick or a sharp look cuts her deeper than a physical attack will.

"Which way from here?" He had the coordinates in his head. He'd done that on purpose, more than likely. This was, apparently, a learning trip, rather than something set down by Thraios or the Senate.

"There was that time the Geonosian brain worms infected several Troopers, Jedi, and Padawans, forcing them to do the bidding of their Queen. There was that time a death plague - with no previously know cure or treatment - was released in a lab on Naboo. Plo Koon and some of his men were once trapped in a life support pod without anything but emergency power, unable to even call for rescue." She could take her pick in ordering them, but all worse than this. And likely, Anakin had many more.

"We may be picked up with some bruises and I'll have a day of repairs and upgrades to make, but our lives aren't in danger so long as we trust the Force and we won't become a danger to others." Because he doesn't want her to take the wrong lessons from his answer.

"Across the river, there's a place to forge it about six-hundred meters ahead. If we time it right, it'll be low tide at the delta, and we'll be able to almost walk across a stone path." If no, they'll have to get wet, and Misa's feet won't quite touch in a section or two, but it will be easy.

He does know she'd been being rhetorical right? She really hadn't wanted to know all that. She's not entirely sure that she believes all of that - oh about Plo Koon she does, she's heard it from the clones - but the rest? Well, she's just going to keep her mouth shut about it.

That's the thing about Misa. She keeps her mouth shut and observes a lot. Thraios likes that about her, especially with her knack for going unnoticed, even without using the Force. She's startled the clones often enough that she is pretty sure they think she can disappear on purpose. Oh, she never startles Anakin, but he's Anakin, so she doesn't expect to.

She pushes herself up and sighs, falling in next to him to head down to the river, and then to the forge.

They actually do make it to the delta when the water isn't deep and stones peek up here and there along the path. Misa has gotten over her aversion to being damp. She hadn't liked it at first, but one of Padme's youngest cousins had pushed her into the water once, and then learned not to push her too hard, because she'd almost retaliated, and would have, had Anakin not been there to ease the situation. She'd stomped off and left the couple alone with the children, sitting in the sun to dry out. Then, Anakin had taught her to swim, so she wasn't at such a disadvantage.

She skips across the rocks, keeping an eye out for anything in the river or beyond that might take exception to two Jedi bounding along. Her boots sink deep in the mud on the opposite bank and attempt to make her leave her boot behind. "Yuck." She grumbles.

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Stranded... out there

I'm winging this, so don't come hit me with a pillow. So, we're going with 5.

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